Gurgaon Namaz Disruption: Why are Liberal Hindus Silent?
By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
18 December 2021
Muslims Are Regularly Being Stopped From
Performing Friday Prayers
Main Points:
1.
Muslims
have been petitioning the government to allocate them land to build mosques but
to no avail.
2.
In
the absence of mosques, they have to pray in public places but only in those
that were allotted to them by the administration.
3.
Hindu
right-wing groups, in their visceral hatred of Muslims, have been disrupting
namaz at multiple sites.
4.
The
continued silence of mainstream and liberal Hindus is deeply troubling.
-----
Muslims in Gurgaon have been stopped
from offering weekly prayers in public (File)
-----
“This is all politics. There are vested interests
on both sides. I don’t really like what is happening here.” This was the
refrain from a friend of mine living in one of the many high rises in Gurgaon.
Working for one of the many IT companies which dot the millennium city, I was
generally inquiring from him about the ongoing disruption of Friday namaz
happening through a concerted effort by Hindu right wing groups. I understand
that many Hindus, like my friend, would not associate themselves with such
groups. But their continued prevarication and silence on the issue is only
emboldening these groups and their visceral anti-Muslim actions. In
articulating the issue as arising from ‘vested interests of both sides’, my
friend tries to create a false balance of forces which in fact does not exist.
The issue is fairly simple and there is
really no “both sides to the story”. Many years ago, Muslims were allocated
land to perform their prayer ritual in the absence of adequate number of
mosques. The practice continued for years without any hiccup when various right
wing Hindu groups started to object to Muslims ‘occupying’ public spaces to
perform namaz. The very term occupation ignites sentiments that this is some
diabolical plot by Muslims to acquire land in the name of religion. They even
coined a name for it: land jihad. Muslims, however, have been petitioning the
government to allocate them so that they can build mosques. It is the
responsibility of the government to do, an act in which they have singularly
failed. In the absence of adequate number of mosques, Muslims have been praying
in the open.
One can certainly have positions for or
against Muslims praying in public spaces. Many Muslims themselves have opposed
the idea of a praying in public spaces and have advised them to pray in their
homes instead. One is also aware that Muslim groups have as a matter of right,
blocked public roads to perform their Friday prayers which is patently wrong.
But the issue in Gurgaon is different. Muslims are not occupying roads here,
neither are they praying at unauthorized places. They were simply praying at
places that were allotted to them by the administration for that very purpose.
And it is rather rich when such an argument comes from Hindu groups who
themselves wont blink an eye to claim public spaces for religious rituals. For
these Hindu groups then, it is not about the sanctity of public spaces; it is
rather about an assertion that only Hindus have the right to such places.
Cow dung was spread across a prayer site
in Gurgaon
-----
At sector 37 in Gurgaon, Muslims used to
conduct Friday prayers in a parking lot. But due to the belligerence of Hindu
groups, they were forced to give it up and move to some other locations; until
some other group decides to disrupt their namaz there too. But it is not that
the place in sector 37 has now been reclaimed as a parking space. I saw a huge
tent erected there under which some Hindu religious ritual was going on. While
the namaz normally does not take more than half an hour, the puja went on for
nearly half a day. So, this is a very dishonest argument by the Hindu right
that their campaign is to reclaim public spaces. By that logic they should not
be performing the puja at the same site. But then we know that this is
fundamentally about ‘showing Muslims their place’.
The signal is loud and clear: that Muslims
will have to live at the mercy of Hindus; that any public manifestation of
Muslim religiosity needs to be curbed in this new definition of Hindu nation.
If at all a Muslim prayer has to be ‘permitted’, it can only be allowed at
obscure places. I saw one of those obscure places in sector 29 which was
surrounded by big hotels; away from the hustle bustle of residences and
factories. The message is clear again: Muslims will be tolerated only to the
extent that they are not visible.
India need not become a legal Hindu state;
groups within Hindus are creating social conditions which would not require any
legal framework to do so. In this they are ably helped by the ruling
dispensation, particularly the chief minister of Haryana who some days ago
declared that he will not tolerate namaz in public places. The police, whose
responsibility it is to uphold law and order, stands as mute spectators at many
of these orchestrated protests by Hindu groups. Under such conditions, Muslims
have acted wisely and have avoided confrontation. But this gives further signal
to the right- wing Hindus that they can get away with anything.
Ultimately, it depends on sane Hindus like
my friend in Gurgaon to come forward and condemn what is happening in the name
of protecting their faith. Why is it that we hear such ominous silence from
liberal mainstream Hindus when it comes to condemning such brazen attack on
Muslim religious practice? Why is it that we do not see any “Not in My Name”
rallies and protests demanding that such hateful politics in the name of
Hinduism must stop.
Where are the stalwarts saving the
constitution when the rights of Muslims to freely practice their religion is
being threatened now more than ever? Why is it that there is no effort from
their side to stem this tide of hatred? Why is it that they are not doing any
outreach amongst among Hindus to tell them what is being done in their name?
Many of these stalwarts in fact became so only because Muslims across the
country provided them with platforms and numbers. Now when Muslims in Gurgaon
need them, where are they?
And where is the scholar politician who
educated us about the difference between Hindutva and Hinduism? How should we
understand this complicit silence of ‘liberal and tolerant’ Hinduism?
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A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Arshad Alam
is a writer and researcher on Islam and Muslims in South Asia.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/gurgaon-namaz-liberal-hindus-/d/125986
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