A new row over offering namaz in a public space has erupted in Gurugram. A group of students of the GD Goenka University in Sohna Road protested this week claiming that some foreign students offered namaz on a football field.
According to the Indian Express, Dr. Dhirendra Singh Parihar, the registrar of the university, said some 8-10 students protested on Tuesday. The report says that the students offered namaz on the field while they were playing football there.
The protesting students filed a complaint with the registrar. In their complaint the students said that “there should not be any practice of any religion, studying namaz, in an open space.”
The protesting students argued that namaz should only be offered at a place of worship or inside their own hostel rooms.
It was earlier reported that the university had allocated a specific room for students to offer namaz but Parihar called them baseless. “The university does not discriminate between any communities. There has not been any conflict in the university in the past on these issues,” he said according to the Indian Express. The registrar also added that the students did not have any political affiliation.
Namaz at public places has been an issue of much debate in Gurugram. There have been protests from many groups against the Friday prayers in public places. Muslim groups say there are not enough mosques to offer namaz. The Gurugram administration has earmarked some places so that the prayers take place without any untoward incidents.
A few months ago there was a huge controversy after a video showed a group of people offering namaz at a new mall in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow. There were many protests against the Friday prayers inside the mall, owned by the UAE-based Lulu Group. The authorities acted by banning any kind of religious prayers inside the mall
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