Gurgaon: Hindu Groups Disrupt Friday Prayer, This Week at Another Designated Spot

New Delhi, 23 Oct 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: Supporters of Hindu groups including Bajrang Dal on Friday once again disrupted the congregational prayers of Muslims in Gurgaon’s Sector 12-A shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram‘ slogans, as they came close to the open Namaaz spot while prayer was underway.

This was the fifth successive Friday when Hindu right-wing supporters attempted to disrupt the congregational prayers, demanding a ban on ‘open Namaaz’ in Gurgaon. But this was the first time that such an attempt was made in Sector-12. Until Now they have been protesting at Sector-47. But after intervention from the administration they deferred the protests by at least two weeks.

Video from today that went viral on social media show the supporters of Hindu groups shouting communal slogans as police intervene and stop them close to the spot where Muslims were busy offering prayer.

Speaking with Clarion India, Altaf Ahmad, the co-founder of Gurgaon Ekta Manch, a civil society forum, said that today these people came too close. It shows the police failed to thwart them. “If Muslims had not showed restraint situation could have escalated,” he said.

According to reports, Kulbhushan Bharadwaj, a local lawyer, was one of the those challenging the prayer. Bharadwaj, a former BJP leader, is said to have represented infamous Jamia shooter in the court.

The protestors dispersed only after assurances from the police that their grievances would be looked into. But the prayer was taking places at a spot designated by the administration in 2018.

According to NDTV, when the issue made headlines last week, Haryan Cheif Minister ML Khattar told reporters that everyone had a right to pray, but also said that “those offering prayers should not block road traffic”.

“No one should hurt sentiments nor should anyone disrupt prayers… and if they are praying at designated sites, as suggested by district administration, that should not be disrupted,” he said.

“The issue should be resolved amicably and the local administration is handling it well,” he added.