Hindu groups in Haryana’s Gurgaon have stopped Muslims from praying in several open spaces on Friday, reports said.
According to the report published in the Delhi based news portal Scroll, the disruptions came two weeks after Hindu residents of two villages in Gurgaon’s Sector 53 had stopped namaaz in an open space where around 700 Muslim men gathered every Friday afternoon.
The villagers alleged that Muslims used the weekly prayers as an excuse to encroach on government land, stated the report.
“By 1.30 pm on Friday, members of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti said that they had prevented namaaz from being conducted in 10 open spaces in areas that included Atul Kataria Chowk, Sikanderpur, Cyber Park Sector 40, Wazirabad and Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road,” mentioned the report.
The Samiti is an umbrella body of the local units of 12 Hindutva groups including the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Hindu Jagran Manch and the, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Kranti Dal, according to its members, said the report.
“Muslims have to take permission of the administration to pray in open spaces,” report quoted Rajeev Mittal, national coordinator of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Kranti Dal as having said.
“Members of Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti have today [Friday] interfered in 10 cases where Muslims were found preparing before the namaaz. We did not let that happen. But no law and order issues were reported. Our demand was clear – get permission from the authorities,” the report further quoted Mittal as having said.
Abhishek Gaur, district president of Bajrang Dal in Gurgaon as per report said: “Members of our group are looking out for open space namaaz today and they have been asked to stop the Muslims whenever they spot any without getting into any law and order trouble.”