Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—Sikhs from Punjab and other places have appreciated the gesture of the Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha in Sadar Bazar, Gurgaon, to offer its premises for Friday Muslim prayer.
Sidhu offered the Gurudwara basement for Friday prayers after some Hindu groups organized protests against Muslims, offering Friday prayers in public parks and open government plots.
Muslims have been offering prayers in open public parks and government lands because the government has not allotted them land for a mosque in the New Gurgaon.
In addition, as many as 19 mosques-big and small-are under illegal possession of Hindus since 1947. All efforts by the Haryana Wakf Board to get them vacated have failed so far. Local Muslims allege that police and administration are not interested in restoring the mosques to the Muslims.
Several delegations from Punjab and other places have visited the Gurudwara in the last week and met its chairman Sherdil Singh Sidhu. Sidhu said that he was continuously receiving delegations from different places admiring his gesture. He said that he was also receiving a large number of phone calls in this connection.
Daya Singh, a Sikh leader from Gurgaon, who also visited the Gurudwara, praised Sidhu for offering the Gurudwara premises for Friday prayers. He said that Sidhu’s offer would go a long way in strengthening the harmonious relationship between communities.
Representatives of several Muslim organizations also called on Sidhu and expressed their thanks for his gesture.
Some of the local Muslims, including Mufti Mohammad Saleem and former Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Adeeb gave a letter of thanks to Sidhu. They said that though the Friday prayers could not be held in Gurudwara premises on November 19 (Friday) because of the day being Gurupurab, the biggest festival of the Sikh community, the Muslim leaders said that the gesture itself was very important, particularly when some people were strongly opposing Friday prayers in government parks and open plots and Muslims have very few options.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) vice-president Prof. Mohammad Salim Engineer also called on Sidhu. He also visited various places in Gurgaon where the protests against Friday prayers have been held for the last several weeks.
Prof. Salim thanked Sidhu for his offer for Friday prayers. He said that the gesture was a strong message to those who wanted to divide society. He said that Sidhu’s gesture and a Hindu youth Akshay Yadav allowing Muslims to use his shop in Sector 12 of the city for Friday prayers showed that the majority of the people in India believed in co-existence and religious tolerance.
During discussions with Prof. Salim, Sidhu said that he decided when he learned that Muslims were harassed for performing prayers in government parks and other places. He said that Gurudwara is a religious place and was open to anybody with any discrimination.
Sidhu said that there should not be any politics on prayers.
He admitted that there was pressure on him from protesters who wanted Guruduwara premises not to be allowed for Muslim prayers.
“But I told the protesters that Gurudwara is a religious place and everyone, irrespective of his faith, is welcome,” Sidhu told this scribe. He candidly admitted that he was under a lot of pressure from protesters and their leaders not to allow Friday prayers in Gurudwara premises.
Prof. Salim also met several shopkeepers in Sector 12 automobile market who are running car repair workshops. Shopkeepers told him that they did not face any problem in the city, except protest against Friday prayers in the open spaces by some interested groups.
JIH leader also called on Sanyukta Hindu Sangharsh Samiti leader Kulbhushan Bhardwaj leading the protest against ’namaz’ in open spaces. Samiti is a conglomeration of 22 Hindu outfits.
Prof. Salim said that the purpose of the visit was to know the root cause of the issue and find a durable solution. He said that the discussions were held in a very cordial atmosphere. However, he refused to divulge the details of his talks with the Hindu leader.
