Bajrang Dal forces Muslims out of designated Friday prayer site

New Delhi: Bajrang Dal supporters disrupted a Friday namaz mass gathered in the open in sector 69 in the national capital. They raised slogans and forced some 100 people to stop prayers and leave the place, PTI reported.

The mentioned space is one of the designated sites the district administration has lent for Muslims to pay Namaz in 2021.

Police said that in the latest incident, around 15 Bajrang Dal members led by its district security chief Amit Hindu disrupted Namaz at Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) land in sector 69.

SHO of Badshahpur police station, Umesh Kumar, said that after receiving information about the issue, police reached the site and found the Muslim community leaving the area.

The police team asked Bajrang Dal activists to leave the place and brought the situation under control, the officer said. "The site was one of six designated (open) sites. We have not received any complaint, and if received, action will be taken as per the law," he added.

Last year the district administration designated six sites, including Atlas Chowk at HSIIDC Ground, Peepal Chowk in Udyog Vihar phase-2, HSVP land in Udyog Vihar phase-4, Leisure Valley Ground in Sector 29, HSVP land in Sector 42 and HSVP land in Sector 69 for offering Namaz by the Muslim community.

Meanwhile, Amit Hindu, a member of the outfit, claimed that Muslims were encroaching on the green belt in the area to pray. When the site was allocated for a temporary basis for prayers, people from other districts and states were also coming here to offer Namaz, he alleged.

He said, "We will give a memorandum to the deputy commissioner on Monday to stop prayer at this site."

For long, right-wing outfits have been opposing Muslims doing Friday prayers in open sites here. Members of the Muslim community in Gurugram say they go to public places because of the lack of mosques in the areas where they work or live.