Will not disrupt namaz, assures outfit

Members of Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti meet Gurugram officials

Right-wing outfits have been disrupting prayers at open spaces in Gurugram for the past month.

The Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti on Wednesday assured Gurugram officials that it will not disrupt offering of namaz in open spaces this coming Friday in view of the onset of the holy month of Ramzan.

The right-wing organisation, however, told the district administration that it stood by its nine demands, including a ban on prayer congregations in the open.

Led by the outfit’s patron Natthu Singh, a delegation met top officials of the district administration on Wednesday.

The organisation’s convenor Mahavir Bharadwaj and retired District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar, who were part of the delegation, said that offering of

namaz at designated places would not be disrupted till the time the district administration arranged ‘mosques and eidgahs for the Muslims’.

‘Demands are legal’

The retired judge also submitted legal documents to Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh claiming that the demands made by the outfit were legal. He claimed that as per Muslim Law, the offering of

namaz was prohibited in the open and at disputed places.

In a press statement, the organisation said that the district administration assured them that they would seriously consider their demands and identify and deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingyas.

The members of the outfit also criticised those trying to take political mileage out of the controversy over the issue and warned the Hindu community to be wary of ‘opportunists’.

Many threats

The organisation’s executive member, Vikram Yadav, had on Monday said that the local administration had broken their trust by allowing the Muslim community to hold Friday prayers at 47 locations across the city. He had also threatened to disrupt prayer congregations at public places this week.

National convenor of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Parishad Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati has threatened to set himself on fire outside Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s official residence in Chandigarh on May 20 if the administration allowed Muslims to hold prayers in Hindu-dominated areas on May 18.