“There has been an increase in occurrence of namaz being offered at public places. It is fine till no one objects. But ideally, namaz should be offered in the precincts of a religious place or at one’s home,” he said.
The chief minister of Haryana did not say a word about the hooligans who had disrupted the Juma (Friday) prayers in at least ten places in the city on May 4. He did not ask the police to identify the culprits and book them. He did not reprimand the police for letting off these hooligans. He did not warn the members of the newly-formed Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti – who are
openly issuing threats to further disrupt Friday prayers – not to take law in their hands. He did not ask the police to ensure that the disrupters are not allowed near the spots where Muslim devotees perform their Juma namaz.
How is his statement to be interpreted by the district and the police? They would see the disrupters as the objectors and not as law breakers. Their act would be seen as a legitimate act of protest. They push and shove the Imams and the devotees, but their actions are not seen as objectionable or unlawful. People are physically violated, phones snatched and broken.
When you complain about the violence, the administration wants you not to take this seriously. After all, you are not bleeding or dead, so what is the big deal? Why exaggerate a small fracas?
‘Till no one objects’ is the crucial part of the statement made by the chief minister. We have already noticed his silence, as if he doesn’t even not know about the violence on the previous Fridays. But he anticipates objections. And his own people have started obliging him – supplying the objections which can then give him and his government an excuse to outlaw namaz in the open.
Were the young men who threatened the namazis the real objectors? It is fairly clear by the statements of organisations like the Bajrang Dal and other right-wing groups that these youths, the men on the ground, are merely pawns in a larger game. Suddenly, a new group called Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti is formed, and on the following Friday, a car ferries the disrupters. If criminal cases get filed, these youth would be the ones to get caught. The real instigators have taken care to remain out of the net. So how genuine is the objection?
Anil Vij, a Haryana minister, has said that offering namaz at a place with the intent of grabbing land cannot be allowed. However, he hasn’t given a single instance of land being captured under the cover of namaz – because there is none. These are mostly poor, working-class people who gather in open areas nearest to their work place.
The fear of land grab is only one of the tropes that the ‘objectors’ are using. Another is security of ‘our girls and women’. It is also being said that Muslims do it to show their strength.
Infiltration of Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees
is one more excuse as if those who disrupted the prayer were on a mission to identify and deport them.
Ramzan is fast approaching. In the month of Ramzan, the significance of Juma namaz increases. So the number of devotees would only increase and more space would be required.