New Delhi, October 4, 2021: A citizens forum in India have written a letter to the police demanding action against members of Hindu rightwing outfit Bharat Mata Vahini’s after they threatened to disrupt Friday congregational prayers of Muslims in Gurgaon in Indian state of Haryana.. A delegation of Gurgaon Ekta manch Manch met the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Aastha Modi and raised their concern on threats over Namaz.
Altaf Ahmad, a Gurgaon resident, who was an active member of the forum said that the group apprised the police of the threats through a letter.
“We have been observing that Bharat Mata Vahini and its members have been showing up at the namaaz locations, intimidating Imams and using provocative and hurtful language in a planned attempt to disrupt prayers and provoke violence. Their latest attempt was on 24th September at Sector 47, opposite the Vigilance Office, which is on the administration’s list of namaaz sites,” said the Manch in its letter to the Gurgaon police.
The Citizen group said that it works to keep Gurugram a city “held together by peace, care and justice for all those who have chosen to live here”.
The threats from Bharat Mata Vahini had first emerged in 2018 when the outfit demanded a ban on Friday prayers in spaces outside mosques. Then the issue subsided.
In April that year, in one instance six men were arrested after a group of people attempted to shut down prayer at Sector 53 on April 20.
“During covid lockdown, since the congregational prayers would not take place there was not any provocation from the outfit either,” said Altaf.
But this March, Atlaf said, the outfit surfaced again and resorted to “unlawful acts” to force Muslims to stop holding Friday prayer at Sector 39 and 40 .
“This has emboldened the group considerably and they have been regularly issuing warnings via social media to Muslim residents of Gurugram with threats to continue disrupting the Jumma namaaz,” the letter said.
The outfit uses the bogus fear of land grab by Muslims by setting up mosques to mobilise the supporters. The letter accuses them of using abusive language against Muslims.
This is creating anxiety among Muslims with regards to their safety and security. There is no place for such behavior in a secular and democratic country like ours. We believe that an FIR has already been filed against the leaders of Bharat Mata Vahini in the past, and we request appropriate legal action as per CrPC be taken in order to protect our Constitutional values, as well as to ensure there is no breakdown in law and order,the citizens forum demanded.
Altaf said that Muslims offer prayers in these spaces because there are not as many mosques to accommodate everyone on Friday. agencies