Sami Ahmad
NEW DELHI—Dulhepur village under Chhajlait police station of Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh had reportedly a ‘samjhauta’ (compromise) that no collective Namaz would be offered in any house of the community. It may sound crazy but that is what the police and the Hindi print media thought was a normal thing. Then for an alleged breach of that ‘samjhauta,’ an FIR was registered. Moradabad police first defended the FIR but then ‘expunged’ that after ‘an inquiry by the circle officer’.
This is just a glimpse of what the Muslims of the state’s rural area are undergoing under the controversial seer-cum-chief minister Ajay Singh Bisht alias Yogi Adityanath.
Media reports suggest that there was some opposition on June 3 this year by a few Hindus against the offering of collective Namaz by Muslims in their house. According to BBC Hindi, there are around 200 Muslims in this village of 550 voters. The local Muslims say that there is no mosque in the village and they were offering collective Namaz for a long. At that time the police brokered a peace deal asking Muslims to not offer collective Namaz. The police must be asked how such a deal can be fair and legal.
After Hindus of the village including Chandrapal, Rampal Singh and others complained to the police that ‘compromise’ was breached on August 24, the police without any primary inquiry registered a case against the local Muslims. They accused that on that day in the house of Anwar and Mustaquim people gathered and offered Namaz, as reported in Dainik Jagran.
Four Hindi newspapers Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Hindustan and Navbharat Times reported this issue as if denying to offer collective Namaz in private property was justified and they quoted All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslim chief Asaduddin Owaisi and declared him responsible for the withdrawal of the FIR.
Moradabad Dehat (Rural) edition of ‘Hindustan’, a sister concern of the Hindustan Times, headlined its news on August 31 as “Police U-turn After Owasi’s Tweet.” It states that SSP Hemant Kutiyal ordered the ‘expunging’ of the FIR on Tuesday. On August 30, it wrote, “Despite the opposition by Hindu community an old case of offering Namaz collectively has once again cropped up.” The paper put ‘opposition by the Hindu community as a genuine thing.
‘Amar Ujala’ reported, “Police agrees, No Collective Namaz was Offered in Dulhepur, Case Closed.” Jagran wrote, “Case Expunged After Confirmation of Video as Old.”
‘Navbharat Times’, the sister publication of The Times of India in its Lucknow edition carried small news on the front page headlined “Police Cancels Case of Namaz in Home.”
It seems that the local media was not covering this issue before strong objection to the FIR registered by Moradabad Police against the local Muslims. When a Twitter user Ashraf Hussain @AshrafFem tagged @moradabadpolice with the news of this FIR, they responded with a tweet https://twitter.com/moradabadpolice/status/1564153061626392576?t=OedlvZdYsjBBimp9ojOD8g&s=19.
It said, “Even after mutual understanding (Apsi Samjhauta) some persons offered Namaz collectively changing places to create enmity, hate, animosity. Therefore, at the written complaint of the other party and based on inquiry, a case has been registered.”
In response to this, Abdul Ghani Faizani wrote, “Case is being registered for offering Namaz at home. Here the most unethical section has the freedom to peep into Muslims’ houses. Police, too, gander at the houses of Muslims if they are offering Namaz. This is the New India.”
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted a report by ANI and asked, “Muslims in India cannot offer Namaz even in their houses?” He tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to reply if the permission of government/police would be required to offer Namaz.” Moradabad Police responded to this by reposting their earlier tweet.
It is also reported that DGP, UP, asked the local police as to why the case was registered so late.
But as the opposition to this move by the police got stronger, Moradabad police announced the withdrawal of the case. It tweeted its response again stating that after the investigation, the case of Chhajlait was not proved, and hence it is expunged. Mr. Owaisi quoted this tweet and expressed his hope that the UP police will not register FIR under mob pressure. He also hoped that the people would offer Namaz in their houses without any hassle.
What is amazing is that no newspaper asked this obvious question as to why the FIR was registered on a false accusation. Earlier, Dainik Jagran termed it as “ghar ke bahar samuhik namaz padhne ka mamla” (the case of offering congregational Namaz outside the home.) while the truth is that the case was registered for offering Namaz inside the house.
It also stated that the police sat on this case for a month, which again is a falsehood. It also said that instead of taking legal action, the officers brokered a solution by talking to the people of both communities.
‘Amar Ujala’ quoted Samajwadi Party’s Moradabad MP Dr. Syed Tufail Hasan as saying that the case was registered by anti-social elements. This paper revealed that the administration asked to fill a bond of Rs. Five lakh to all those who were accused of offering Namaz.
