Gurugram: Gurdwara committee offers their premises to Muslims for their Friday prayers

After several weeks of Muslims being stopped by rightwing Hindutva groups from offering their Friday prayers on open grounds in Gurgaon, a gurdwara committee has now come forward and offered their premises for Muslims to offer prayers, said several news reports.

Sherdil Singh Sidhu, who heads the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha at Gurugram’s Sabzi Mandi said that five gurdwaras at Sadar Bazar, Sector 39, Sector 46, Model Town and Jacobpura have been offered to the Muslim community for namaz.

“A gurdwara is the house of the Guru. We won’t be mute spectators to what has been happening. People from all communities are welcome to come here and pray. If the Muslim community is facing problems in praying at designated sites, they can offer prayers in the gurdwaras,” said Sidhu.

Sidhu stated that Muslims should be allowed to offer Nawaz in an open space and there should be no fight over such petty issues. "People who were offering namaz in open sought administration's permission and those who had a problem should have approached administration before attacking them," he added.

Members of the Jamiat Ulama have met with the committee and accepted the offer, which they called “gracious.” They have decided to offer namaz at the gurdwaras at Sector 39 and Sadar Bazar on Friday. Mufti Mohammad Saleem, president of the Jamiat Ulama in Gurgaon, described the offer as “gracious.”

“We are celebrating the birth anniversary of our first Guru (Guru Nanak Dev) on Friday. These gurdwaras can accommodate over 2,000 people, but we have proposed that people pray in small batches of 30-40 and maintain social distancing on account of Covid,” said Sidhu, adding that official permission will be taken if required.

“This is a true example of brotherhood where people from multiple faiths have come forward to defeat divisive forces, who have been spreading hatred and communal disharmony in Gurgaon over the last two months,” reads a statement by Altaf Ahmad, co-founder of Gurgaon Muslim Council.

A Hindu businessman, Akshay Yadav, had also offered the premises of his shop for namaz in Gurgaon's Sector 12. He said that at least 15 people had offered namaz at his shop last Friday.

The conflict began on September 17 when Hindu right-wing groups led by Dinesh Bharti, the founder of a local outfit called Bharat Mata Vahini, protested at Sector 47 when Muslims had gathered to pray in Sector 47. Soon, other Hindutva groups began to protest at Sector 12 and other areas where Muslims were gathering for prayers too.