A day after Noida Police sent a notice to companies that they should direct their Muslim employees to stop offering Friday prayers in open areas, the administration has said that the order was specific to a park in Sector 58 and didn’t apply to the whole district.
A report in the Indian Express quoted the Senior Superintendent of Police (Gautam Budh Nagar) Dr Ajay Pal Sharma as saying, “A few people had asked for permission to hold religious prayers at a park in Sector 58, which was not granted by the city magistrate. But people congregated there; the companies in the area were informed about it. The information is not specific to any particular religion.”
The report further quoted Adil Rashid, who runs a website called mohamaddiyantrust.com, that claims to look after the interest of Muslims in Sector 58, stood outside the DM office with a letter signed by hundreds of devotees.
“Namaz has been read for many years at the park… our tradition is being challenged… On behalf of all devotees who wish to offer prayers, I will submit a letter to the authorities seeking fresh permission,” he said. The notice, issued to 23 companies in the industrial hub of Sector 58, read: “The companies are requested to ask their Muslim employees to not offer namaz in the park belonging to Noida Authority in Sector 58, since there is no permission. If any Muslim employee of the company is found to be reading namaz in the park, the individual’s company will be responsible.”
In May, after a rise in incidents of right-wing groups preventing Muslims from offering namaz in open spaces in Gurugram, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said such congregations should be restricted to mosques or Idgahs rather than public areas.
The statement has come just days after some right-wing organisations disrupted Friday Namaz at several places in Gurugram in Haryana.
Hindutva organisations have been trying to stop Friday prayers in Gurgaon over the last two weeks. There were disruptions caused at Wazirabad, Atul Kataria Chowk, Cyber Park, Bakhtawar Chowk and at South City, the police said
Forces fanned out in Gurgaon on Friday after members of a group called ‘Hindu Sanyukt Sangarsh Samiti’ staged protests and claimed that Muslim worshippers did not have permission to offer prayers at roadsides, parks, and vacant government land in the city.
The Samiti comprises 12 Hindu groups, which include Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Hindu Jagran Manch and Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Kranti Dal.
