Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar Suspends Public Namaz In Gurugram

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday temporarily suspended public namaz amidst protests and threats from Hindutva groups.

The chief minister said in a statement on Friday that all previous sanctions given for public prayers stood nullified and that the state government will now work out an “amicable solution”. Until then, he said, there would be no namaz offering in public places.

Since 2018, Hindu groups have held periodic protests and have disrupted Muslims from offering prayers in government-designated public spaces. Over the years, the number of such spaces used by Muslims has shrunk. The administration has asked Muslims to give up a few of the spaces where they used to pray.

Hindu groups, with the support of right-wing groups beyond Gurugram, have vowed to carry on their protests until there are no more open spaces for Muslims to pray in.

Despite prayers being held at sites “designated” by the administration in May 2018 after consultations with members of Hindu and Muslim communities, chief minister Khattar has now said that prayers in open spaces is “unacceptable.”

“We have no issues anybody practising religion at their religious places but the use of open spaces is not acceptable,” he said categorically.

“There should be no law and order situation or any tension about same. We got to know that there was a meeting between groups and some places were agreed upon or allocated but we, with immediate effect, withdraw all and will work out an amicable solution soon,” he said while referring to a recent agreement made by the Gurugram administration.

“We will help Waqf board to get their spaces free of encroachment. Till then, people should offer prayers at their legal sites, homes etc. We won’t infringe on any rights but nobody’s allowed to bully,” he added.

(With inputs from IANS)