Muslims offer prayers at Taj Mahal on the occasion of Bakrid.

AGRA: With the district administration strictly implementing its directive of allowing only local Muslims to offer prayers at the mosque located inside the Taj Mahal , Eid celebrations witnessed a huge fall in the number of namazees on Wednesday.

If local Muslim clerics and leaders of the community are to be believed, the number of namazees has fallen by almost 66% this Eid. President of Tajmahal Intezamiya Committee, Syed Ibrahim Hussain Zaidi said that usually about 15,000 people used to come for prayers on Bakrid , but this year the number was not more than 5,000.

Attributing this decrease in numbers to the “confusion” over the administration’s orders of allowing only local residents, president of Rashtriya Smarak Samiti, Syed Munnawar Ali said since the Supreme Court had also issued directions in this regard, people stayed away.

CISF commandant (Taj Mahal) Brij Bhushan however clarified that there were no restrictions on anyone from entering Taj today. It was free for all visitors for three hours from 7am to 10am and all Muslims who came were allowed to perform namaz during this period.

A namazi, Aarif Taimuri, who came to perform prayers at the monument, said that Taj Mahal has become controversial and every day something new happens here. “Since people do not want to face harassment on grounds of security, many people preferred to perform namaz at nearby mosques rather than at the Taj,” said Ali, adding that sometimes Hindu organisations target the community also.

Rahat, a local resident, however said that there was also confusion about the timings for the prayers. While the committee had declared the namaz time at 8.30am, many people mistook it for 9.30am.

On July 9, the Supreme Court had upheld the order of the Agra administration, which said that non-residents of Agra would not be allowed to enter the mosque situated at the Taj Mahal for offering customary prayers on Friday due to security concerns.

Recently, two muslim youths from Maharashtra were detained by the security personnel for offering namaz at the Taj Mahal in defiance of SC order.

