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Sambhal Additional SP has stated that Alvida Juma prayers on March 28 and Eid prayers on March 31 will not be conducted on the streets. Prayers will also not be offered on rooftops in the Kotwali Sambhal area, he said.
Congress MP Imran Masood also accused government officials in Sambhal of being “mentally disturbed” and not respecting the sanctity of their position. (Image: PTI)
Congress MP from Saharanpur, Imran Masood, has said that Muslims have been made second-class citizens. Speaking to CNN_News18, he argued that the Uttar Pradesh government has no right to stop people from performing namaaz on their rooftops in Sambhal on the occasion of Eid or Alvida Juma.
This follows an announcement from Additional SP Shirish Chandra on Wednesday. After a peace committee meeting, he stated that Alvida Juma prayers on March 28 and Eid prayers on March 31 will not be conducted on the streets. Prayers will also not be offered on rooftops in the Kotwali Sambhal area, he said. This decision comes in light of recent tensions in Sambhal and communal violence. The authorities have stated that namaaz should be performed inside mosques or homes.
“Roads are the government’s property, so they can stop [namaaz],” said Masood. “They have a problem with namaaz being performed on the road for five minutes, but a road can be blocked for other purposes all night. But rooftops of houses are not your property, why a ban on namaaz there? You have made Muslims second-class citizens in the country,” he added.
Masood also accused government officials in Sambhal of being “mentally disturbed” and not respecting the sanctity of their position.
The BJP is reaching out to Muslims on the occasion of Eid. They are distributing ‘Saugat-e-Modi’ kits to 32 lakh Muslim families through mosques in the country. “Is this a saugat (gift)?” asked Masood. “You are stopping Muslims from reading the namaaz on rooftops or roads. If there has to be a saugat, then give Muslims a saugat of security, education, jobs, and give a saugat of junking the Waqf amendment bill. Why are you making Muslims a beggar? Is a Muslim begging from you,” Masood asked
However, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma stated that the Sambhal administration order was appropriate. He believes that namaaz should not be performed on the roads, but inside mosques or one’s home.