Uttar Pradesh: Namaz stopped at Taj Mahal mosque; Muslims in the area miffed

The Muslims of Agra are miffed that they are not being allowed to offer their prayers at the mosque situated with the complex of the Taj Mahal.

The archaeology department has locked the water tank of the mosque situated in the complex. The water of this tank is used by the devotees for performing ‘wazu’ or ablutions before the prayers.

The imam of the mosque Maulana Sadiq has been informed that there won’t be prayers anymore in this mosque. And ever since there has been a lot of unrest among the Muslims in the area over this matter.

The Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind has taken this step by the ASI (Agra) seriously and has declared their intention to fight out this matter at all levels. The representative of the Jamiat met the collector and informed him of their intention.

The 50-year-old new leader of Jamiat, Azher says, “We will fight tooth and nail and even come onto the streets. We will stage protests to show our displeasure. Preventing us from offering namaz is a direct attack on our religion. This questions our constitutional rights. Has a Hindu brother ever been stopped from offering puja in a temple? This is discrimination against Muslims. But this time we will not keep quiet.”

Namaz has been offered in this mosque from the past several years. Emperor Shah Jahan constructed the mosque in this complex for the purpose of prayers. An Imam has been appointed as per the system and the ASI paid him a monthly salary of ₹15/-. This is not the order of the court, the court has restricted persons from outside Agra (outsiders) from praying on Fridays and directed them not to start any new ritual/ tradition. Namaz is offered here for the last 400 years and this is not a new tradition.

It is not just Maulana Azher but also the Muslim population residing in the locality adjacent to the Taj Mahal who are upset. The people of Tajganj, located 500 meters from the Taj Mahal come to this mosque to pray regularly. They live close by and most of these men are businessmen having shops nearby.

Asif Khan, 39, a native of Agra, says, “For a few years now, attempts were being made to set Agra afire and Taj Mahal is being targeted. Sometimes they say it is Tejomahal and sometimes something else. There was an attempt to perform puja here. The BJP and RSS leaders keep saying objectionable things about Taj Mahal. I feel this attack on the Taj Mahal is on the same line as the Ram Mandir issue”

Asif Khan says that namaz is being offered in this mosque from the times of Shah Jahan and no one had any objection. It is just from the last two years that such things have begun to happen here. Like the order for closing the south end door of the Taj Mahal in the name of security. The closing of this door has caused huge losses to the livelihood of many Muslims who owned shops at this end.

They said that there are possibilities of suspicious people entering through this door and on this pretext they closed the south end door. The Taj Mahal had three entrance doors and now for the last two years one has been closed.

Actually the south end door was the only one that opened towards the city unlike the east and west side where there is no habitation. The river Yamuna flows near the northern side of the Taj Mahal and on the Southern side is Tajganj, the locality where around 50,000 people reside. A majority of them are Muslims.

A young worker, Nadeem Mansuri (31) says, “The ASI closed this door for security reasons. They think the terrorists may enter the Taj Mahal through this door. Earlier there was a ticket counter this side which is now closed. It is easy to suspect Muslims and even the local newspapers keep propagating such news that makes Muslims as suspects.”

“The southern gate was closed just like that without bothering about the livelihood of the  numerous Muslims who had their small businesses there. If it was really a matter of security they could have used security scanners and metal detectors. Those of us who reside in Tajganj feel insulted because this action implies that we too are suspects. It hurts our dignity and pride,” he added.

Shami Adhai, (47),  a well-known social worker in Agra explains, “The Government gauges people through a different kind of barometer. After they closed the door that opened towards Tajganj, the Muslims did not protest. So, now they have fgone ahead and prevented the offering of namaz in the masjid. And now again if the Muslims do not protest and remain silent, the next step will be them offering pooja in the Taj Mahal.”

However an attempt has already been made to perform a pooja here. Laxmikant Bajpai, the former state president of BJP had said that Muslims should look out for another mosque to pray because Taj Mahal is for tourists to visit and see.

The mosque is to the right of the Taj Mahal, the Imam of which Moulana Sadiq was appointed in 2001 and before him his father was the Imam for 50 years. It is their ancestral occupation which even the department of archaeology had acknowledged and were paying a monthly salary of ₹15.

“It is not about the salary of ₹15,” says Moulana Sadiq, “but about the fact that we were paid for leading the prayers in the mosque”.

Ankit Namdev from the Archaeology department locked the water tank on Saturday and when the caretaker of the mosque Ibrahim Zaidi asked he was told that these are the orders of the Supreme Court issued in the month of July. Ibrahim Zaidi asks, “The court issued orders 4 months back and they seem to remember it now. The court has restricted outsiders from offering prayers in this mosque not the natives. But we have not been shown the orders either.”

However the authorities of ASI say that they have not prevented the Friday prayers and that the special Eid prayers offered on Ramzan and Bakrid will also take place as usual. These measures have been taken due to security reasons.

Shami Adhai says, in Islam namaz has to offered 5 times in a day at the prescribed times. And this right has been guaranteed to us by the constitution as well. “The ASI has issued special passes to the people residing within 500 meters of the Taj Mahal. These people can come to the mosque to offer prayers by showing their entry passes. So now how can anyone who does not the have the pass enter? Then why this measure?” he asks.

The officials of ASI hesitate to answer this question. And Vasant Swarnkar says, “The water tank has been locked to prevent mishaps, especially to protect small children of the tourists from falling in the tank by accident”.

Ibrahim Zaidi says, “This kind of accident has never happened before. Why are they afraid of such mishaps now? It does seem like they are hiding the truth from us”.

The locals feel that this is a conspiracy to polarise people in view of the elections.

Advocate Nasir Warsi, says, “The BJP MLA of Northern Agra, Jagan Prasad Garg has already demanded that the name of Agra be changed to Agravan. Some days back some fake charity event took place. Attempts are being made continuously to create unrest in Agra instigate the people and spread hatred. It is ironic that peddlers of hate are targeting Taj Mahal which is the symbol of love.