Namaz disallowed in sector-37 Gurugram, villagers hold condolence meet for CDS Bipin Rawat

Gurugram, Dec 10 (IANS) Members of Hindu organisations and local villagers did not allow Friday Namaz in Sector-37 industrial area.

In a bid to stop the prayers, condolence meetings were organised for Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his wife and other army personnel who lost their lives in a chopper crash on December 8.

Trucks and other vehicles were also found parked hap hazardously at Hero Honda Namaz location.

Apart from this, members of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti and the Muslim organisation jointly paid tributes to General Rawat in Sector-29.

Meanwhile, the Friday Namaz was disrupted in a park located in Sector-44 by members of the Hindu right-wing. However, due to the deployment of a heavy police force at the suspected sites, no untoward incident was reported.

"We organised condolence meet in Sector-37 industrial area for our beloved CDS Bipin Rawat Ji and other army personnel who lost their lives during an unfortunate incident recently. Next Friday, we will also organise a family kitchen (Bhandara) at the same location. This is our village land and we used to park trucks and vehicles here. We will not allow anyone to offer Namaz here," Rinku a local villager told IANS.

Meanwhile, a Muslim man who was prevented from reaching the site said: This was a wrong way to stop us from offering Namaz. In Sector-37 a number of people are offering Namaz since several years but nobody stopped us but now few organisations are deliberately disrupting the prayers to gain political milage. We also have faith in Hindu religion and a real Hindu can not prevent anybody from offering prayers," Rashid Malik told media.

Another Muslim community man who was turned away from the site also expressed his anger saying: "Shall we die if we are not allowed to offer Jumma Namaz. We used to visit temples and take part in Hindu religious activities without hampering any religious activity and we expect the same respect from our Hindu brothers," he said.

Earlier, in a meeting with the district administration, the Muslim organisation had decided to go ahead with Friday prayers at 18 places including six temporary spots in Gurugram.