Members of the Muslim community offer namaz in Gurugram (File Photo)

GURUGRAM: Emboldened by the chief minister’s stance that namaz should not be offered in the open, Hindutva outfits in Gurugram have scaled up their demands. On Wednesday, they told the Gurugram administration that designated open spaces for Friday prayers should be restricted to five, and none of them should be within a 2km radius of a temple.

The outfits have also sought a verification of citizenship documents of people attending prayers in open areas. The organisations have united under a common banner, which is being called Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, to press ahead with their opposition to namaz at open places. The new demands were parts of a nine-point petition they submitted to the district administration after a meeting.

“The administration should designate places for prayer congregations but they should not be more than five in number or come within 2km radius of a temple,” said Mahavir Bharadwaj, who had led a protest comprising groups like VHP, Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Kranti Dal, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagran Manch, Sanskriti Gaurav Samiti, Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Bharat Bachao Abhiyan and Sanskar Bharti last week.

He also said the administration should take their opinion before finalising the new sites. The groups have linked an increase in the size and number of Friday prayer congregations in the city to what they alleged is an “influx of illegal migrants”. When these groups went around the city disrupting prayer congregations last Friday, slogans of ‘Bangladeshi wapas jao’ were raised in various parts. “Prayer congregations in open spaces have increased mainly due to influx of illegal migrants,” Bharadwaj said on Wednesday.

It can be noted here that the city has a massive construction industry with an estimated 1,200 construction sites in Gurugram at present, which does not include infrastructure development work like underpasses, roads, flyovers, etc. So, there is huge demand for construction workers, a sizeable portion of which comes in the form of migrant labourers from other states.

Sube Singh Bohra, a central figure in the opposition to namaz at open spaces and former headman of Wazirabad village, said the administration should also verify citizenship documents of vendors along city roads. “There is need to check the increasing number of illegal migrants in the city,” said Singh. Four men from Wazirabad were among six arrested in April for disrupting namaz at a Sector 43 ground. That began a chain reaction of namaz being disrupted at other places.

Senior officials in the administration admitted meeting demands like a cap of five on the number of designated sites and ensuring they were not near a temple were difficult to meet. An officer said they were trying to resolve the issue through dialogue and a series of meeting were conducted in past few days with different groups. “It is not possible to fulfil demands of every group. We will have to find common ground to resolve the issue,” said the official, adding the primary objective was to maintain law and order in the city.

Responding to reporters’ queries last Sunday, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had observed that “incidents of namaz being offered in the open have increased”, and that “these should be only done in places they are supposed to be”. “Namaz should be read in a masjid or an idgah, and if short of space, they (Muslims) should read it in their private spaces,” he had said.

Asked about vigilantism by local saffronite groups, the CM had said maintaining law and order is the government’s duty, and it will do that.

