NEW DELHI – Dozens of people, many from Hindu right-wing groups, werearrested on Friday in India for disrupting Muslim prayer gatherings, localmedia reported.
In 2018, many from the majority Hindu community raised similar objectionsto Muslims praying in the open. District officials mediated between thecommunities and identified around 35 open spaces for Muslims to offerFriday prayers.
Many of those detained on Friday held up placards that read “Gurgaonadministration, wake up from your sleep”, NDTV television channel reported.Images on social media showed a group of mostly unmasked people demandingthe prayers be stopped.
Hindu groups have been pressuring authorities for weeks in the northerncity of Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi to stop Muslims offeringFriday prayers in open spaces.
Read Top Stories
On Friday police deployed several hundred extra officers and arrested atleast 30 people as crowds of locals and Hindu groups chanted slogans, localmedia reported. Critics have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sHindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of persecuting minorities,including India’s 200-million-strong Muslim population.
Haryana state, of which Gurgaon — also called Gurugram — is the capital, isruled by the BJP. It is not the first time such an incident has beenreported in the city, home to scores of multinational companies.
