ISLAMABAD: In a highly controversial step Indian state Utter Pradesh (UP) industrial city Noida’s police has issued a notice to 23 companies in Sector 58 asking them to inform their Muslim employees not to go to a Noida Authority Park, a public place to offer prayers.
The notice which has been issued by the police authorities stating that no permission has been issued by the administration to offer the Friday namaz in the park. Sector 58 SHO Pankaj Rai told TOI that the notice was issued to 23 companies as over the past few weeks, around 500 people would gather on Fridays to offer namaz.
“It has come to notice that the Muslim employees of your company gather in the Noida Authority’s park to offer prayers. I have collectively asked them not to do so and there is no permission being given by the city magistrate to their application. Hence, it is expected that you, on your behalf, would inform your Muslim employees that they should not go to the park for offering namaz,” reads the notice.
While Gautam Budh NagarSSP Dr Ajay Pal Sharma said that the mentioned notice has been issued for “maintaining law and order”. “Some people had sought permission for offering prayers in the Noida Authority’s park in Sector 58, which is yet to be given by the office of the city magistrate. And, this information was passed on to all the companies. It is expected that all will help the police in maintaining peace and harmony in the district,” Sharma said.
Rai said that as many as 500 people would gather and offer prayers on Fridays in the park. If some other group comes and says we want to organise pooja, there can be tensions. It is a Noida Authority park where no function like marriage, etc can be organised. Whether Hindu or Muslim, such functions will be stopped,” he said.
According to police, the gatherings have stopped since the notice about two weeks back. At least 12 multinational companies got the notice from Noida police. The companies have been told to direct staff not to offer namaz in Noida Park. Employers will be held liable for Friday prayers by staff in the park. Public spaces such as parks can't be used for religious activities; the Noida police have declared and told multinational companies to direct their employees not to offer Friday prayers in a community park. The notice also warns the companies that they will be held liable for any violation by their employees.
The companies, which have sought a meeting with senior police officers for clarification, also plan to approach the court against the order.
After the notice created a furor in Noida's industrial hub, the police went into damage-control mode and said that the notice isn't religion-specific. Sources told media that a few Hindu groups had complained to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Noida claiming that offering namaz in the open "disrupts harmony" in the area. After that 58 police stations were instructed to notify these companies.
Last week, at least 12 MNCs, including HCL, got the notice that specifically said "nobody is allowed offer Friday prayers in the park". "It has been observed that some Muslim employees of your company go to Sector-58 Park to offer Namaz on Fridays. Please tell them not to do so. And if they still go to the park to offer prayers, then the companies will be held responsible for the violation," the order said.
"Some people had sought permission to offer prayers in a park in Sector-58, but they weren't allowed by the city magistrate. And still a lot of people gathered there. The notice aims to discourage all sorts of religious gatherings," Pal said.
Maulana Nauman, who has been leading Namaz in Sector-58 Park for the last five years, said that on December 14, the police told him and others not to offer Namaz in Sector-58 Park. But Nauman and his friend were arrested four days later even though they had followed the direction, he said. "My friend Adil Rasheed and I were arrested on December 18 for disrupting peace and harmony, the police told us. We got bail on December 22," he said.
Earlier this year, right-wing Hindu organisations had disrupted Namaz at several places in Gurgaon. The activists alleged that some people were trying to grab land in a bid to merge it with a mosque. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also said it wasn't right to pray in open spaces.
But clarified he wasn't trying to stop anyone from offering prayers. "If there is shortage of places for offering Namaz it should be done in personal spaces, inside homes," Khattar added.
