New Delhi: Muslims in Uttar Pradesh await the festival of Eid-ul-fitr, scheduled to fall either on Monday (March 31) or Tuesday, amid a drive by the administration to enforce restrictions on offering namaz in public.While the government has since last year been directing Muslims to not offer namaz on roads, arguing that it obstructs traffic and causes inconvenience to others, this time officials have issued strict warnings to ensure directives are implemented.In Meerut, a major city in western Uttar Pradesh, a senior police officer warned that if people violated the directives, they could face criminal action, a consequence of which would be the cancellation of their passports or licences.In Sambhal, which has been the centre of controversy ever since violence broke out last November, officials even went to the extent of saying that Muslims would not be allowed to gather even on their rooftops for namaz.After facing criticism from opposition party leaders, Sambhal’s district magistrate Rajendra Pensiya on Friday, after the conclusion of the alvida jumma namaz (held on the last Friday of Ramzan), clarified that the prohibition was only for the roofs of eight to ten dilapidated homes in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected area near the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid.“There was no prohibition on anyone offering namaz on the roofs of their homes. This was misleading and we had rebutted it. There was only prohibition on the eight to ten dilapidated roofs near the ASI-protected area,” said Pensiya.Before the alvida jumma namaz, Meerut city’s superintendent of police Ayush Vikram Singh said notices and directives had been issued about the prohibition on offering namaz on roads.Singh said that in 2024, police had taken action against 80 persons for defying the directives.Strict legal action would be taken against those who violate the directives, he said while talking to media persons. “Instructions have been given that under no circumstances shall namaz be offered on the road,” he said.The officer emphasised that if criminal cases are lodged against individuals, it could lead to the cancellation of their passports and licenses. Obtaining a new passport would not be possible without securing a no-objection certificate from a court, Singh said.The threat by the officer was widely condemned, with Chaudhary Jayant Singh, a Union minister and a BJP ally, too joining in the criticism. “Policing towards Orwellian 1984 !” he wrote on X.In Sambhal, officials used drone cameras and CCTVs to monitor the Friday namaz to ensure that no prayers were offered on the roads.On March 26, after conducting a peace committee meeting with various religious groups, police said that it was agreed upon that namaz would not be offered on the roads.Namaz would be allowed only at the designated mosques and eidgahs as per tradition, said Shrish Chandra, Sambhal’s assistant superintendent of police.The officer also said that namaz would not be allowed in public spaces outside these premises. People would also not be allowed to “gather unnecessarily” on rooftops for prayers, he said.To make sure that there is no spillage, the officer said that peace committee members would ensure that once mosques are occupied to about 70-80% of their capacities, incoming namazis would be stopped outside the mosques with the help of barricades and be asked to approach other mosques.Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, criticised the administration’s directive banning namaz on rooftops, saying that a person’s terrace was not the property of the government.“If a person is not allowed to pray at his residence, where will he go?” asked Barq.The MP said that by putting such restrictions, the administration was taking away the religious freedom of Muslims.Chandra Shekhar Aazad, opposition MP from Bijnor, said that police officers in Uttar Pradesh were competing with each other to see who gives “more disgusting statements” against Muslims for the sake of publicity.“The police are not the court. They do not have any right to cancel passports. I think Muslims will have to get permission even to breathe in the coming times,” said Aazad.
