Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kompella Madhavi Latha's video of reciting mantras at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport has ignited a heated national debate over the inclusivity and branding of ‘multi-faith prayer rooms' at Indian airports. People from various faiths observed that the logo of these prayer rooms at most of the Indian airports symbolise a position of offering namaz and have demanded the aviation authorities for more secular and inclusive signages.
The controversy erupted when Latha shared a video of loudly reciting “Durga Suktam” mantras inside a female prayer room of Delhi Airport. While the video showed a few muslim women inside the same room, Latha's post hinted towards appealing to Hindus to use these prayer rooms and “purify” them. “These are spaces for the seeker, the devotee, and the quiet soul. Let us treat every inch of these prayer rooms as a Punya Kshetra,” her post read.
While the video has led to a heated debate on social media analysing the actions by Latha, the incident has pivoted into a larger discussion regarding the iconography used by airport authorities to designate these rooms. Many critics pointed out that the universal symbol for prayer room often depicts a person kneeling in a posture closely resembling the Islamic sajdah. While these rooms are officially designated as ‘multi-faith prayer rooms’, the argument has been raised that the signage subconsciously labels the space as a "namaz hall."
Several activists and netizens are now requesting the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu to use more neutral symbols such as a candle, a lotus, or a simple ‘Om’ and ‘Cross’ combination, to ensure all travelers feel equally welcome. Many users also highlighted that some of the multi-faith prayer halls have Quran for the devotees but fail to provide any other religious book.
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A graphics designer, Arshdeep Singh Saini, took to micro blogging platform X and requested AAI to consider a more universal icon for prayer rooms. “Alternative icons should be explored. However the current icon leans only towards Islamic way of prayer and is not inclusive to the secular fabric of India. The current icon has alienating and discouraging psychological impact on passengers of other faiths to use the facilities,” his post read.
Col. Sanjay Pande, a retired Indian Army official also posted on X, suggesting that all the prayer rooms at airports and bus stations should be converted into Sarva Dharma Sthal, like practiced in the defence agencies. “We have prayed in an SDS with all religions represented in one room. Is it too difficult to adopt?” he said.
However, other people on social media have also shared contrasting beliefs saying that the icon is among the internationally-used standard typography, which can be seen even at airports like Manchester, Chicago's O'Hare and others in the West. Simultaneously, a few also commented that the icon does not signify only the Islamic way of praying but a neutral style of posture seen in all the faiths.
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