Friday prayers were held at 47 places, including 23 open-spaces in Gurgaon this afternoon after several Hindu-outfits called for a ban on namaz in public. Gurgaon police stepped up security to ensure law and order at these venues. At least 76 duty magistrates were also deployed across the city. Members of some Muslim community were stationed at places where namaz was held until last week to inform those who arrived of the changes. The sites where prayers were held included Marble Market in Sikanderpur, Leisure Valley ground parking and the parking in front of IFFCO Chowk. The change has come after a group of men disrupted namaz at a vacant plot in Sector 53 on April 20, 2018. Haryana police arrested Six people in connection with the incident and later released on bail.
Members of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti continued “vigil” across Gurgaon as namaz was read this afternoon. Office bearers claim they have made the total list places where Friday prayers were read, despite the fact that they were not in the list allotted for the purpose, and will be handing this over to police personnel. National general secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Kranti Dal Rajeev Mittal said, “We are not taking the matter into our hands. We are cooperating with the police and administration department, and will give them the list so they can take action accordingly,”.
Thanking the Police department and local administration for its efforts to assure regular prayer offering, Sarfaraz, a city-based businessman said, “We have been offering prayers in some locations for over 20 years now. Never witnessed disruption. Some refractory elements were trying to disrupt perhaps, but our focus remains peace. We thank administration and police for providing security to us.”However, Hindu Sangharsh Samiti head, Mahaveer Bhardwaj, said “Administration has been increasing sites without consulting other voices. We have decided to co-operate for the day. Nobody from our group would be disrupting prayers today.”
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