Hundreds booked as 6 FIRs lodged in UP over Eid namaz on streets
“The cases will be investigated. So far, no one has been identified. The cases were lodged for offering namaz in the open,” Kanpur Police Commissioner Bhagirath P Jogdand told The Indian Express on Friday.
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Police said they were trying to identify those who offered namaz on the streets for further action.
Representational AT LEAST six FIRs have been lodged over the past one week in three districts of Uttar Pradesh over offering of namaz on the streets on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on April 22. The FIRs — against hundreds of unidentified people as well as local Eidgah committee members — have been lodged in Kanpur, Hapur and Aligarh.
Police said they were trying to identify those who offered namaz on the streets for further action.
In Kanpur, the police have lodged three FIRs — at Babupurwa, Jajmau and Bajaria. While the case at Babupurwa has been lodged against the Eidgah committee and 40-50 unidentified people, the one at Jajmau police station is against the Intezamia Eidgah committee and 200-300 unidentified people. The case at Bajaria has been lodged against members of the Eidgah committee and 1,000-1,500 unidentified people.
“The cases will be investigated. So far, no one has been identified. The cases were lodged for offering namaz in the open,” Kanpur Police Commissioner Bhagirath P Jogdand told The Indian Express on Friday.
All three FIRS in Kanpur were lodged Thursday under IPC sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty). They were lodged on complaints of officers posted at the concerned police stations.
The complaint of Senior Sub-Inspector Omveer Singh, based on which the FIR at Bajaria was lodged, said, “I was on duty to ensure that Eid namaz is completed peacefully… With regard to the festival, meetings beforehand were held with members of the peace committee and Eidgah committee. Everyone was made aware that namaz must be offered inside the mosque and Eidgah.”
“For this, required police force was also deployed who told namazis that namaz must not be offered on the street and that if someone misses the Eid namaz due to the crowd, they will get another chance to offer it. Despite this, around 8.30 am when the namaz was to start, people started trying to offer namaz. They were then sent to the nearby graveyard. Suddenly, when namaz was to start, around 1000-1500 people started offering namaz in front of the Eidgah on the road which was not stopped at the time keeping in mind the law and order situation. CrPC Section 144 was violated and people moving on the road were obstructed,” the complaint said.
Similar complaints were filed by policemen posted at Babupurwa and Jajmau police stations.
In Hapur district, an FIR was lodged on April 23 against 200-250 unidentified people for offering namaz on the road near the Eidgah.
“The case has been lodged under several IPC sections, including for violation of CrPC Section 144, and for creating an obstruction in government work. The FIR has also made the Eidgah committee members accused as it was their responsibility to hold namaz inside the Eidgah,” said Sanjay Kumar Pandey, SHO of Hapur Nagar police station, where the FIR was filed.
“We have identified 20-25 people among the accused. They will face arrest. For now, we are identifying the accused,” he said.
In Aligarh, two FIRs have been lodged against unidentified and unspecified number of people for offering namaz on the road on April 21 and 22 while prohibitory orders were in place. The police said they were collecting CCTV footage from the areas where the namaz was held.
The FIRs were lodged at Kotwali and Delhi Gate police stations in Aligarh town on Tuesday night. “The cases have been registered in connection with violation of Section 144 and other relevant IPC sections. We are trying to identify those involved through available CCTV footage. Action will be taken after we identify the people,” said SP (city) Kuldeep Singh.
The police said they had conducted meetings of the peace committees ahead of the month of Ramzan and informed people that namaz should not be offered on roads as CrPC Section 144 had been imposed.
Samajwadi Party MP S T Hasan said, “It is sad that when we are praying to our God – the one who some call Allah, Ishwar, God, Wahe Guru… When there is a restriction on praying, then what will happen to the country.”
“With something like this, Hindustan becomes weak. Namaz has happened on the roads forever. It is merely something that is completed in 45 minutes. Hindu brothers keep us safe during namaz. I have seen that Hindu brothers lay out carpets for their Muslim brothers,” said Hasan, who represents Moradabad.
Maulana Sufiyan Nizami, spokesperson for Darul Uloom Firangi Mahal, told The Indian Express that Eid namaz is supposed to be offered with a jamaat (assembly) and not individually. “Eid namaz is held at mosques and Eidgahs… It is better to offer Eid namaz together with a larger group,” he said.
“If some people are offering namaz on the streets due to lack of space it should be permitted. In most places, the guidelines regarding namaz to be held indoors was followed. But in some places, if namaz was offered outside it should not be made into a criminal offence. In a country where yatras and processions are taken out, when namaz is offered on the road because of shortage of space, such strictness shouldn’t be shown,” he said.
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