New Delhi: A man by the name Shailendra Pratap Singh Jadaun complained to airport authorities after he was “offended” by seeing an “unwanted black stone” in the common prayer hall. In a series of pictures uploaded on Facebook, Pratap called it an “illegal” practice and filed a complaint.
The black sign he was referring to was an object that showed the Qibla, which is the direction Muslims offer Namaz in. It is to be noted that the prayer room is not reserved for any single religion. It is likely that the black sign was placed there for the convenience of Muslims while offering prayers.
In his complaint letter, Jadaun stated, “I request that stones with the word ‘Qibla’ written on them be removed from both the men’s and women’s prayer rooms. My religious feelings have been offended by this. I could not even finish my prayer.”
The man reportedly goes to airports an hour before his flight so he can inspect the prayer rooms. Shailender Pratap inspected the men’s and women’s prayer rooms in Delhi airport before filing a written complaint.
“How was he allowed to go inside women’s prayer room?” asked a Twitter user, after the incident surfaced.
The man later shared images of the Qibla being removed from the prayer rooms by the maintenance staff, and claimed that the airport had issued an apology.
Jadaun’s Twitter profile shows that he has found fault with the prayer room at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru as well. He questioned the presence of a red sign on the ceiling as well as an ablution room present in the prayer area.
“What is the rule & regulation for #PrayerRoom? Any specific modification is allowed? Is any Law to permit #AblutionRoom construction inside #PrayerRoom? Is this only for any particular sect? I demand to remove all unwanted signs from #PrayerRoom with immediate effect.” he tweeted.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Shreya Srikonda | 
