PIL against the Namaz room in Jharkhand Assembly building

State Government informs the High Court about formation of a Committee in this matter
Similar Committee formed earlier is yet to submit its report !

Ranchi (Jharkhand) – A PIL has been filed in the Jharkhand High Court against Jharkhand State Government’s proposal of providing a Namaz room for Muslims in the new Assembly building. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is ruling the State. The State Government informed the High Court that a 7-member Committee has been formed in this matter. The Committee will study the provisions in other State Assemblies and submit a report on 31st July.

The proposal first came on the table in September 2021 and it was opposed by the BJP which was the opposition party then. Government had formed a Committee at that time, which was to submit its report within 45 days; but after 2 years it is still unclear what the Committee’s report was or what happened to it or whether the report was submitted at all or not. There are 4 Muslim MLAs in the Assembly but none of them has demanded a Namaz room.

The petitioner in this case Ajay Kumar Modi stated in the petition, ‘It is against the fundamental rights of citizens from other religions to allow a specific religious group to pray in a Government premises. It also violates the principle of religious equality’.