Members of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, at the Sector 12A site in Gurgaon carried out a Govardhan puja ity’s Sector 12A where namaz had been taking place every Friday as Gurgaon administration withdrew permission for namaz at eight sites in the city.
The puja was organised by the Sanyukta Hindu Sangharsh Samiti (SHSS), an umbrella body that comprises 22 Hindu right-wing outfits like the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Kranti Dal, Arya Samaj, and Sanatan Dharam among others.
Prayer Permission Revoked
Friday’s event came days after officials in the northern Indian state of Haryana revoked permission to offer Friday congregational prayers at eight of the 37 public grounds in Gurugram.
“Permission to offer prayers at eight previously-identified sites has been cancelled,” Gurugram police said in a statement on Tuesday. It added that if objections were raised by the residents at other places, “permission to offer prayers will be cancelled there as well”.
The Gurugram administration on Tuesday, 2 November, even withdrew permission for performing namaz at eight of the 37 designated sites, citing objection by locals and ordered that namaz will not be performed at any open space that is not a designated site to do so.
Late last month, a group of 26 protesters — several of whom were from right-wing groups — were arrested for attempting to disrupt the namaz before being released on bail the same day. Many of them were present at Friday’s event.
A committee, comprising members of Hindu and Muslim communities, and social organisations was constituted for identifying a list of spots where Friday namaz can be offered “in the future”.
Ultimatum
The Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti (Joint Hindu Struggle Committee), even issued an “ultimatum” to the authorities, saying they would stop Muslim prayers themselves if the Gurugram administration fails to do so.
“We are giving a polite warning. We won’t submit more memorandums. It will then be the responsibility of the administration to maintain peace, not ours,” the Indian Express newspaper quoted Mahavir Bhardwaj, Haryana state president of the group, as saying last week.
“We are ready for lathis [sticks], we are ready to go to jail. We won’t run if we are shot at, but this will not be tolerated.”
Rajiv Mittal, spokesman of the Hindu group behind the event, told Al Jazeera they are not against “Muslims offering namaz” but against “namaz being held in open spaces without permission”. He claimed the permission granted at 37 places in Gurugram was for the holy month of Ramadan only.
BJP Presence.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra also attended the Govardhan puja held at Sector 12A, Gurugram.
Speaking at the event, Mishra alluded to bursting of firecrackers yesterday: “Yesterday on Diwali, a lot of orders and edicts had been imposed on Hindus all over the country. And what was the result? Jitna dabaoge, jitna atyachar karoge… we are peace abiding people. But agar daboage toh wahi hoga jo pure desh mein hua hai. If we are pushed to the wall, then a push has to be given in response (Phir ek dhakka toh maarna hi padta hai).”
He added: “Do not use roads for your politics. We had seen it in Shaheen Bagh. They had done a tamasha by blocking all the roads. Has the CAA been revoked? Arteries and nerves, if blocked, stop the body’s movements. Similarly, if roads are blocked, the city and country stops.”
“Everyone has equal rights in the Constitution. Blocking of roads cannot be a part of anyone’s religion. It shouldn’t happen. Gurgaon is a metropolitan city renowned world over. Here you will block roads. You will block them in Delhi? This cannot be a part of religion… This is a way to stop and disrupt the economy of the country. The first right to roads belongs to people who walk on them or run their businesses or use them to reach offices, hospitals, schools. And if local residents raise objection, then no one has a constitutional right to sit and block roads. There is no end to this. People from outside come and pray here,” he said.
“I want to congratulate the people who fought for this freedom… who fought to defend these constitutional rights. This is the real fight for freedom (azadi). Not the one for which slogans of azadi are raised. We need freedom to freely walk on the roads,” he said.
(Featured image Al Jazeera)