New Delhi: Activists of the Bajrang Dal on Saturday, August 28, staged a protest alleging that namaz was being offered inside a mall in Madhya Pradesh’s capital, Bhopal.Videos of people offering namaz at a corner of the DB Mall and of protesters – some of whom chanted slogans and some others surrounding them – were circulated on social media on Saturday.In the videos circulated, the activists outnumber the men offering namaz, who are seen in what appears to be a secluded part of the mall. A man, ostensibly a Hindutva activist, is heard asking other protesters to move from the front so that the photos of those offering namaz can be clicked.Protesting against Namaz being performed at DB Mall, Bhopal members of Bajrang Dal recited Hanuman Chalisa pic.twitter.com/c9VIoW7lHv— Viक़as (@VlKASPR0NAM0) August 28, 2022The news agency PTI has reported that it was Bajrang Dal activists who shot videos of the prayers being offered.Activists also argued with a representative of the mall’s management, threatening to would recite the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at the establishment.“A police team was dispatched to the scene after getting information about the protest, but no untoward incident was reported,” MP Nagar police station in-charge Keshant Sharma said.“When the police reached the scene, Bajrang Dal members were exiting the mall. No one has made any complaint in this regard so far,” he said.Bajrang Dal Vibhag Sah-Sanyojak Abhijeet Singh Rajput, who led the protestors, said, “We have been getting information for the last one month that some people were offering namaz on the second floor of DB Mall. We reached there today and captured 10 to 12 people offering namaz.”“The Bajrang Dal had raised an objection about this with the DB Mall management, but no official was present,” he said.“We spoke to the security supervisors and warned them to stop the practise or the Bajrang Dal members will recite Hanuman Chalisa and Sundar Kand (a part of Ramayana),” Rajput saidRajput alleged that while the supervisor had claimed that namaz was being offered in an enclosed place, it was being offered at an open space.In July, Hindutva groups circulated a video which purportedly showed some Muslims offering namaz in Lulu mall of Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow. This led to police action against those who had offered prayers, seven of whom where arrested. Despite being denied permission by the police, men entered the mall and chanted the Hanuman Chalisa there. Later, mall authorities released a statement saying that over 80% of its staff was “Hindu”.Last year, Hindutva groups began disrupting Muslims’ Friday prayers at spots in Haryana which had earlier been demarcated for such prayers by the government itself. As the disruptions grew increasingly charged, Haryana chief minister M.L. Khattar announced the withdrawal of the earlier agreement which permitted Muslims to offer Friday prayers on government-allocated land in late 2021.However, the laws do not outright penalise public praying. An analysis in Scroll.in noted legal experts’ opinions on the fact that not only is praying in public not a criminal offence, but that there must be a “specific intent to cause disharmony among groups,” for it to be penalised.(With PTI inputs)
