Govardhan Puja held at place where Muslims offered namaz earlier

Chandigarh, Nov 5 (PTI) BJP leader Kapil Mishra on Friday attended Govardhan puja held at a site in Gurugram’s Sector 12A where Muslim community people used to offer namaz every week.

The puja was organised by the Hindu outfit Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti.

A Gurugram police official said that no namaz was scheduled to be offered at the site on Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the site, Mishra said the Samiti has shown the way how to put across one's point of view peacefully.

Objecting to anyone occupying a public place to offer prayers, Mishra said, “If people from different religions, faiths and sects keep occupying open public spaces on one day every week, it will result in blockade of all the roads and parks." “We need the freedom to move on roads, freedom to go to our offices, to hospitals, to workplaces, to run businesses. If people from one community snatch this freedom every week, this cannot be allowed. Nowhere in the world can this be allowed,” said Mishra.

Speaking at the event, he said a similar “tamasha” was staged earlier in Shaheen Bagh.

“They had staged a tamasha by blocking all roads,” he said and asked if the CAA was revoked due to that.

“The Constitution of our country gives everyone equal rights but blocking roads cannot be part of anyone's faith,” he said.

The Samiti had earlier announced that they would conduct Goverdhan puja to oppose namaz at all public places.

Around 30 people had been briefly detained by police on October 29 for allegedly gathering to disrupt Friday namaz offered by Muslims in Sector 12 area in Gurugram.

Amid a heavy police presence in the area, the protesters, mainly from various Hindu outfits, gathered and raised 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans last Friday even as the members of the Muslim community were arriving at the spot to offer prayers.

Three years ago, the district administration had designated 37 sites in the city for Muslims to offer Friday namaz after which there were protests by some Hindu groups.

A few months ago, one group started protests against the prayers offered in the open after which there have been protests on Fridays for the past one month. PTI SUN VSD RAX RAX