The Muslim community in Delhi alleged that the city police stopped them from offering their Friday prayers in 16 mosques.
Muslims and Imams have alleged that the police suddenly stopped them and refused to offer an explanation or even show the worshippers a warrant.
The incident came to light when the former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, Zafarul Islam shared the picture of the Inquilab newspaper which stated that on Friday, the Delhi police didn’t allow the Muslim community to offer prayer in mosques.
He tweeted,” No namaz: Police disallowed Friday namaz in 16 mosques in the Panchsheel area of Delhi. Imam of an old mosque said this is the first time in fifty years that namaz was stopped here. From today’s Inquilab.”
The Imaam of Lal Gumbad mosque, Niyaz Ahmad (50) was quoted by Maktoob media saying, “I have been living here since the 1980s and started Imamat in the 2000s in this mosque. Something like this has never happened before.”
Furthermore, he continued, “I thought that prayers were stalled because it was Holi. I told them that the situation here is peaceful and that there is nothing to be worried about. Every five years or so, Holi and Juma fall on the same day, but never before, were prayers stopped.”
The mosque Naim Imam Mohammad Khalid stated, “police came to us and said that today prayers won’t happen in the mosque. When asked why, they said that the Archeological department has ordered to stop prayers at 16 in mosques in Delhi. They asked for a written paper but they didn’t show anything”
“Later the Muslim community performed the namaz in the park. The administration is trying to repeat the Friday prayers boycott which took place at Gurgaon,” the Imaam added.
A day before Holi and Shab-e-Barat on March 17, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind appealed to Muslims not to offer open prayers in view of the Hindu festival. They also demanded security from the administration for offering Friday prayers in mosques.
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