India

Companies will be held liable if Muslim staffers offer prayers in open: Noida Police

Uttar Pradesh police has ordered offices and establishments in Noida that they should direct their Muslim employees to stop offering Friday prayers in open areas such as parks, reported the Indian Express. 

According to a notice issued last week by police stations in Noida, including at the Sector 58 industrial hub, companies will be held liable if their employees are found violating the directive.

According to the report, companies in the area have sought a meeting with senior Noida police officers for clarification on the matter, particularly on the clause that threatens to hold them liable for violations of the order by employees.

Executives of some of the companies who have been served the notices said there is widespread concern among units in sectors other than where the notices have already been served. It has also sparked worries that the ambit of the directive could be widened to include other areas in the National Capital Region township. Sector 58 is predominantly an IT and services hub.

The Noida Police has defended the move citing concerns that communal harmony could be disturbed, especially in the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

“Yes, we have sent notices to many companies in our area after several complaints regarding a large number of people offering Namaz in the afternoon especially on Fridays. Since most people offering prayers are employees in companies nearby, we have sent notices to those companies to ask their employees to either offer Namaz in a Masjid, Eidgah or within the office compound on the roof etc,” Pankaj Rai, SHO of the Sector 58 police station, from where the initial round of notices were issued, told the Indian  Express.

In May, after a rise in incidents of right-wing groups preventing Muslims from offering namaz in open spaces in Gurugram, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said such congregations should be restricted to mosques or Idgahs rather than public areas.

The statement has come just days after some right-wing organisations disrupted Friday Namaz at several places in Gurugram in Haryana.

Hindutva organisations have been trying to stop Friday prayers in Gurgaon over the last two weeks. There were disruptions caused at Wazirabad, Atul Kataria Chowk, Cyber Park, Bakhtawar Chowk and at South City, the police said

Forces fanned out in Gurgaon on Friday after members of a group called ‘Hindu Sanyukt Sangarsh Samiti’ staged protests and claimed that Muslim worshippers did not have permission to offer prayers at roadsides, parks, and vacant government land in the city.

The Samiti comprises 12 Hindu groups, which include Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Hindu Jagran Manch and Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Kranti Dal.

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