As the whole country mourns and commemorates the martyrs and victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Muslims too came out in the open and offered prayers in the form of Namaz in Gurgaon's Sector 37 but were once again heckled and mistreated by the right-wing Hindu groups.
While the Hindus were chanting chanting 'Jai Shree Ram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 25 Muslim men, not more than 30 meters from them offered Namaz to commemorate the loss of the victims and their families.
The moment the 20-minute Namaz ended, two men from the Hindu group crossed the distance to claim the space. Even after the presence of around 150 policemen on the site, only 30 policemen stood up to interfere in the matter.
The Muslim community members decided to leave the site peacefully.
The city's Gurdwara Singh Sabha Committee also rejected Muslims to enter and occupy space for prayers stating that Muslims had "not sought space for namaz", but underlined its resolve to stand with the minority community.
However, anti-Muslim posters outside one gurdwara have raised questions about pressure from right-wing groups, some of whom had earlier spread cow dung over a namaz site.
For a few weeks now, several sectors of Gurgaon have witnessed hatred and disruptions by right-wing Hindutva groups and members of resident welfare associations (RWAs) against Muslims reading the Friday prayers, Jumme ki namaz, in open spaces.
The Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Sabzi Mandi in Gurgaon had opened its doors for the Muslim community to offer their Friday prayers in five Gurdwara premises on 17 November.
However, no namaz was offered in any of the Gurdwaras due to fear among the Muslim community that the Hindu right-wing groups would create ruckus again.
(with NDTV inputs)
