New Delhi: A local BJP leader, Manupal Bansal, recited the Gayatri Mantra and ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at a mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat after reportedly seeking permission from the local cleric.Bansal also posted a live-stream of the event at the mosque, which is located in Vinaypur village under Kekda Police Station, on Facebook.The local police is investigating the matter, Superintendent of Police, Baghpat, Abhishek Singh said on Wednesday, adding that Bansal visited the mosque often and had taken the permission of the mosque’s maulvi, Ali Hassan, so a case could not be lodged.Bansal, who is the member of the district working committee of the BJP, said that he recited Hanuman Chalisa to promote amity and brotherhood after taking Hassan’s permission.The district unit president of the BJP Surajpal too said that Bansal had taken the maulvi’s permission.Talking to media persons, Hassan said he allowed Bansal to recite the Hindu prayers as there was nothing wrong in it and everyone needed to work to promote brotherhood.Also read: Consent Sought from People in Temple for Namaz, Clarifies Activist Faisal KhanEarlier, a local leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had announced that he would recite Hanuman Chalisa at Fuiswali Masjid in Badaut area of Baghpat during Friday prayers after which the police are on a high alert.On Tuesday, four persons were detained for allegedly reading Hanuman Chalisa at a Mathura eidgah reportedly in response to an incident in which a group of activists belonging to an NGO, Khudai Khidmatgar, had offered namaz at Mathura’s Nand Baba temple. Police had booked three of them and arrested one on the charge of “promoting enmity between religions” by offering namaz.On Monday, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested the national convenor of the Delhi-based Khudai Khidmatgar, Faisal Khan, for offering prayers at a temple in Mathura on October 29 on charges under section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion), and 505 (public mischief).Khan, who was sent to 14 days in judicial custody, has claimed that he offered prayers in the temple complex only with the permission of the priests there. Khudai Khidmatgar, founded by freedom fighter Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, has claimed that the activist’s intention was to advocate communal harmony during a five-day pilgrimage between October 24 and October 29.Earlier, a local leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had announced that he would recite Hanuman Chalisa at Fuiswali Masjid in Badaut area of Baghpat during Friday prayers after which the police are on a high alert.(With inputs from PTI)
