Gurgaon DC on public namaz reading: Hindu, Muslim groups must work together and recommend solution

The Gurgaon based Hindu outfits, however, have warned the district administration to find an alternative to the issue within a week and also fulfill their other demands. If failed to find a solution within a week’s time, the group has threatened to actively stop Friday prayers again next week.

The Divisional Commissioner of Gurgaon had earlier asked the Haryana Waqf Board to identify its properties where namaz can be read — instead of Friday prayers being held at vacant plots and parks across the city. The board responding to the order requested the removal of illegal encroachments from 19 of its properties and provide police protection so that mosques that stand on these can be reconstructed, restored and used for namaz.

A letter in this regard by the Haryana Waqf Board to the DC stated, “Today, Gurgaon is progressing at a fast pace, people are coming from outside to earn their bread and butter. The population here is increasing, which includes Muslims. Gurgaon already has very few masjids, and people have illegally occupied masjids in nearby villages. Because of this, Muslims have to read Friday namaz in parks and open grounds since there is no space provided for this.”

The divisional commissioner on Monday had met representatives of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, an umbrella body of several Hindu outfits who have been demanding a ban on reading of namaz in the open.