A group of residents staged a protest in Sector 47 here against holding of Friday prayers in an open space earmarked for the market. The protesters demanded that the venue of prayers be shifted elsewhere. The police, however, prevented the agitators from marching towards the devotees offering namaz and disrupting the prayers.
Holding placards, residents, led by area councillor Kuldeep Yadav, gathered near the site of Jumma Namaz (Friday prayers) around noon.The police tried to stop them from marching towards the devotees.
Mr. Yadav said the residents were not against any religion, but were opposed to gathering of “outsiders” in the residential area. He said the residents had approached the administration with a request to shift the venue for Jumma Namaz elsewhere and a couple of meetings were also held in this regard. “We have also suggested a plot near Subhash Chowk for the prayers,” said Mr. Yadav. The protesters demanded that the land was allocated for market and the same should be constructed without delay.
Sunil Yadav, another resident, claimed that the permission to hold Jumma Namaz at the ground was granted only for a day in 2018, and it was being continued illegally.
Altaf Ahmad, representing his community in talks with the administration, said the Sector 47 site was earmarked by the district administration for holding Jumma Namaz after protests erupted against holding of Friday prayers in the open in 2018. “The renewed protests against the namaz are a conspiracy against preventing the community from holding peaceful prayers. We have seen similar protests in other areas as well over the past few months,” said Mr. Ahmad, demanding that the administration must ensure that the prayers are held peacefully at the site.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Aman, said the protests against the prayers had been going on for the last few weeks and efforts were on to resolve the issue amicably. He said the police would look into the claims of the local residents that the permission for Friday prayers at the ground was granted for only one day.
