Amid protests by right-wing groups in Gurgaon against offering of 'namaz' in the open, Haryana's Home Minister Anil Vij said on Sunday that everyone should hold religious events inside places of worship. Such events should be avoided on the roads without the permission of the administration, Vij told reporters in Ambala.
"Everyone should hold religious events inside their religious places," he said. On Friday, BJP leader Kapil Mishra attended Govardhan puja held at a site in Gurgaon's Sector 12A, where Muslims used to offer 'namaz' every week.
The puja was organised by Samyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti. A Gurgaon police official had earlier said that no namaz was scheduled to be offered at the site on Friday.
Objecting to anyone occupying a public place to offer prayers, Mishra had 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." Around 30 people were briefly detained by police on October 29 for allegedly gathering to disrupt Friday namaz offered by Muslims in Sector 12 area in Gurgaon. 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, a group started protests against the prayers offered in the open following which there have been demonstrations on Fridays for the past one month. Meanwhile, when Vij was asked to comment on BKU leader Rakesh Tikait's statement that farmers' protest will be intensified if the farm laws are not repealed till November 26, he said it is the farmer union leaders who do not want a solution to this issue.
"The central government called farm union leaders for talks on numerous occasions. In democracy, all issues are resolved through dialogue. But for unknown reasons, they do not want to participate in the dialogue, the state home minister claimed. "Only they know the politics behind their agitation. They do not want a solution to this issue," he said.
Replying to a question, Vij said the number of development works that have been completed during the seven-year tenure of the Modi government at the Centre were not done since Independence till now. "But if (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi cannot see that, then nothing can be done about it," he added.
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