Gurugram: Amidst protests in some parts of the city Prayer being offered in public places, a local resident who is a Hindu has come forward to offer a small business space that it owns old gurgaon For Muslim community for Friday prayers.
Akshay Rao, a wildlife tour organizer who owns several shops in Mechanic Bazar, said most of his tenants are Muslims And were facing difficulties in offering Friday prayers. He said that he has provided his one vacant shop, which can accommodate 15-20 people. “I have not done anything special. This is not the first time that I have offered my place for namaz; I did the same a few years back too,” Rao said.
Rao told TOI that he was born and brought up in Gurgaon and had never witnessed a communal dispute. “I was upset after reading the report about Prayer being interrupted. My aim was to tell my Muslim brothers that it is only a handful of people who are causing this. We are living together in peace and will continue to maintain and maintain our social harmony,” he said.
District administration officials said that they have not involved any private Earth in the list of places for Friday prayers and so far no one has formally approached him to give his private land or place for prayers.
Muslim groups welcomed Rao’s “kind” offer but said they were yet to receive a formal offer. Also, he said that private space is unlikely to be a solution as there have been cases of neighbors raising objections in the past.
Shahzad Khan of Muslim Ekta Manch said that he had met an official of the district administration on Friday to restore Namaz in Sector 12A. “Two years ago, our mosque in Sheetla Mata Colony was sealed. We are requesting to open it and remove encroachment from Waqf Board land to provide enough space to offer Namaz. Gurgaon Muslim Council co-founder Altaf Ahmed said Rao’s proposal was “a true example of brotherhood”.
Like Khan, he also emphasized that the number of prayer places, which have now reduced, is insufficient for the city’s Muslim community.
The number of places offering prayers in the city has almost halved. While 37 places were identified after the first round of protests over the issue in 2018, 20 public places were earmarked for Friday prayers by a government committee in early November in consultation with community representatives. The sites were reduced after weeks of protests by right-wing organizations and some locals, first in Sector 47 and then in Sector 12A, against the use of public places for prayers.
Akshay Rao, a wildlife tour organizer who owns several shops in Mechanic Bazar, said most of his tenants are Muslims And were facing difficulties in offering Friday prayers. He said that he has provided his one vacant shop, which can accommodate 15-20 people. “I have not done anything special. This is not the first time that I have offered my place for namaz; I did the same a few years back too,” Rao said.
Rao told TOI that he was born and brought up in Gurgaon and had never witnessed a communal dispute. “I was upset after reading the report about Prayer being interrupted. My aim was to tell my Muslim brothers that it is only a handful of people who are causing this. We are living together in peace and will continue to maintain and maintain our social harmony,” he said.
District administration officials said that they have not involved any private Earth in the list of places for Friday prayers and so far no one has formally approached him to give his private land or place for prayers.
Muslim groups welcomed Rao’s “kind” offer but said they were yet to receive a formal offer. Also, he said that private space is unlikely to be a solution as there have been cases of neighbors raising objections in the past.
Shahzad Khan of Muslim Ekta Manch said that he had met an official of the district administration on Friday to restore Namaz in Sector 12A. “Two years ago, our mosque in Sheetla Mata Colony was sealed. We are requesting to open it and remove encroachment from Waqf Board land to provide enough space to offer Namaz. Gurgaon Muslim Council co-founder Altaf Ahmed said Rao’s proposal was “a true example of brotherhood”.
Like Khan, he also emphasized that the number of prayer places, which have now reduced, is insufficient for the city’s Muslim community.
The number of places offering prayers in the city has almost halved. While 37 places were identified after the first round of protests over the issue in 2018, 20 public places were earmarked for Friday prayers by a government committee in early November in consultation with community representatives. The sites were reduced after weeks of protests by right-wing organizations and some locals, first in Sector 47 and then in Sector 12A, against the use of public places for prayers.
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