26 Muslims booked for offering congregational prayer in India

Police say the men were arrested as they 'offered prayers without prior permission from local authorities'

Performing religious obligations in today’s India under fascist Modi regime has become a crime as the Utter Pradesh police have booked 26 Muslims for offering a congregational prayer inside a house “without prior permission from local authorities”.

According to a report of Kashmir Media Service (KMS), Superintendent of Police (rural) Moradabad Sandeep Kumar Meena said that scores of people assembled at the house of two locals in Dulhepur village without any notice and offered prayers.

"They had been cautioned in the past not to indulge in such a practice at home, following objections from neighbours belonging to another community," he added.

भारत में मुसलमान अब घरों में भी नमाज़ नहीं पढ़ सकते? क्या अब नमाज़ पढ़ने के लिए भी हुकूमत/पुलिस से इजाज़त लेनी होगी? @narendramodi को इसका जवाब देना चाहिए, कब तक मुल्क में मुसलमानों के साथ दूसरे दर्जे के शहरी का सुलूक किया जाएगा?
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Meena said that an FIR has been registered under IPC 505-2 against 16 identified and 10 unidentified persons on the complaint of local Chandra Pal Singh. "We are looking for those involved in the case.”

Pictures of people purportedly praying inside the house in "large numbers" at Dulhepur village had gone viral on social media, following which, a few right-wing activists staged a protest and demanded police action.

In December, a chief minister of a major state in India openly and unashamedly stated that Muslims will not be allowed to offer prayers in open spaces.

Read more: India's top court revokes ban on large prayer gatherings in mosque

Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar had said that Muslims should only pray in their homes or at designated places.

"I have spoken to the police and this issue must be resolved. We don't have problems with anyone praying at places of worship. Those places have been built for this purpose," NDTV quoted CM Haryana as saying.

"But these should not be done in the open. We won't tolerate the custom of offering Namaz in the open," Khattar maintained.