Namaz controversy: offices and condominiums in Gurgaon, and a widening gap

At the Maidan open next to the Westin Hotel in Gurgaon, what is most noticeable is an absence, a silence. Along Leisure Valley Road and a mile from the Kingdom of Dreams, the city’s nod to Bollywood-style extravagance, the maidan is one of the few places in Gurgaon designated for Friday prayers. But this Friday, like many others in the recent past, the air is fraught with tension.

“Yahan pe kahan sunoge azan, bhai. Namaz bhi jaan jokhim me daal deti hai (Do you expect to hear azan here? Doing namaz is a risk), ”said Abdul, a 23-year-old man who works as a hairdresser in a salon in a nearby shopping center.

Abdul first went to a park near the Dream Kingdom – until recently a government-approved space for Namaz Friday – but two officers told him it was “no longer allowed” and that ‘he had to go to the maidan next to Westin. , one kilometer away.

Between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, Gurgaon’s population increased by 74%. The influx of labor – in the service, IT and communications industries – has led Gurgaon, Delhi’s most affluent suburb, to become India’s 56th largest city in terms of population and the largest city in India. eighth in terms of wealth. Its per capita income in 2020 was Rs 4.6 lakh, almost three times the national average of Rs 1.3 lakh. Dotted with skyscrapers, shopping centers, condominiums and bars, its landscape offers a panoramic view of the sweetness of life. But the recent controversies over the jummah namaz or the Friday prayers have exposed, for many inhabitants, the fragility of carefully cultivated apolitical cosmopolitanism.

In the more upscale neighborhoods – the settlements in and around Sushant Lok, Golf Course Road, Hamilton Court and Regency Park – there is, at first glance, an indifference to the bustle. But scratch the surface, and it is evident that the sense of foreboding has also violated these closed communities.

A protest against namaz offered in the open. (To file)

Anil Mehta displays a brave face. “Things clearly haven’t reached a tipping point yet,” says the recently retired CEO of India Shelter, a housing finance company with offices across the country. Mehta lives at The Laburnam, a condominium complex in Sushant Lok. “What’s going on here, the division, is happening all over the country. But for a call center or a corporate worker in Gurgaon, things didn’t turn out so bad.

But the 33-year-old middle manager of a multinational tech and social media company, who showed up for Friday prayers at IFFCO chowk, would disagree. On condition of anonymity, he lets his anger overflow. “I broke up with my (Hindu) girlfriend (out of fear), I stopped talking to friends and colleagues because they say the most fanatic things, without thinking.”

He says he is not religious but is particular about Friday prayers. “It’s a question of solidarity. Over the loudspeaker, a cleric asks the faithful to offer namaz in their “homes, offices, factories, jhuggis” – this congregation is for people “who have no other choice”.

“In my office,” said the 33-year-old, “I can play video games, take time off for anxiety or depression. I can even take an afternoon to “center” myself. But he is afraid of “stares”, of possible complaints to HR, if he “pulls out a carpet, puts on a cap and faces Mecca”. “What if someone lets the goons in where I live?” What if I am beaten? For a Muslim yuppy, there is no safe place to namaz in the office… Maybe it’s time to move abroad.

For T Hussain, a mason turned entrepreneur working on a renovation project in an upscale condominium, going abroad is not a choice he has or is looking for – Gurgaon is the kingdom of his dreams. . “I came from West Bengal over 25 years ago. Many of us have built our lives here, earned money, supported our families. But in the last few years the police have come to where I live and asked for kagoj (documentation), even though I am from Malda district and I have the papers (Aadhaar and voter card) to prove it. .

While he remains at work, Hussain adds: “Today, there is always a little fear when we say that we are going for the namaz. But there are enough good people here, people we work for.

But the “good people”, the rich and the powerful, are afraid to help.

The fear is not entirely unfounded. The Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch, a citizens’ collective, organized iftaars and protests and helped negotiate spaces for namaz with the local administration in 2020, before the pandemic struck. “Covid has caused the mobilization to decline, even though we are still very active on the namaz issue”, explains Altaf Ahmad, co-founder of the organization. Another, perhaps more urgent, factor was the riots in Delhi in 2020. The group was also involved in relief work during the violence, and many members stepped back for fear of being slapped with blows. case.

Aftab Ahmed, congressman from Nuh constituency near Gurgaon, spoke of alleged discrimination against Muslims in the Haryana assembly. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar replied that the rules regarding public spaces and worship should apply to all communities and that “making a show of force that provokes the feelings of another community is not appropriate” .

On the ground, the relatively accommodating attitude displayed by the local administration in Gurgaon in 2020 has disappeared. “The current fury over namaz is fabricated for the UP elections,” Congressman Ahmed said. “The administration is under tremendous pressure from the BJP and the RSS to intensify the polarization.”

Mohammad Adeeb, former independent member of Rajya Sabha and head of the Muslim Council in Gurgaon, seems subsumed by discouragement. He filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal and DGP PK Agrawal, citing the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment in the Tehseen S Poonawalla v Union of India case, which outlines the steps to be taken to prevent hate crimes. The tribunal, he says, is the only hope because “none of the so-called ‘secular’ parties, including and especially Congress, are prepared to take a principled position. Only the CPI (M) showed up in the streets to support the namaz problem. “

Ironically, BJP adviser Kuldeep Yadav shares this logic – this exclusion is what electoral politics demand. He was among those present during the anti-namaz protests in Sector 47. “The problem is not Namaz. If my fellow citizens, the real residents, want to stop something, I must support them. Why should I support “foreigners”? “

A business leader who has worked with major Indian and global banks said that until recently employers in places like HUDA Park made sure to provide water for wuzu (ritual ablution before namaz ) and space for their Muslim employees, at least on Fridays. But fear of reprisals from “cultural organizations” and government support for them have made employers suspicious.

“Today if anyone asks me if Gurgaon is a good place to open an office, start a business – create jobs, basically – I would advise against it … Lots of people I know … buy property abroad, ”he says.

The Sunday Express attempted to reach out to leading companies with offices in and around Gurgaon about the controversy and its impact on their large Muslim workforce, but none responded. .

“The more you have, the more you have to lose,” says a senior officer of a leading multinational FMCG brand. “The point is, India Inc has the same prejudices as the company.”

The leader of the banking sector is more direct. “In general, in the lending sector, Muslims are less employed and receive fewer loans. Now, business leaders are quick to tell HR, “Don’t hire more Muslims. It’s more hassle than it’s worth ‘.

Gurgaon District Magistrate Yash Garg, BJP MP from Gurgaon and Minister of State for Statistics and Program Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh, Haryana BJP Chairman OP Dhankar, as well as MP from the Party of region, Sudhir Singla, none responded to calls or messages requesting comment on the matter.

If the elites are afraid, and the marginalized are on the margins, isn’t there a way to engage with the authorities to ensure better dialogue and openness?
“We all have children abroad,” said a Gurgaon elder. “If the son of Tavleen Singh (a columnist for this newspaper) can have his OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) status revoked, what hope do we have?