The proper to wish: Why HC needed to step in for a gaggle in UP village to supply namaz | India Information
The in any other case peaceable village of Mohammadganj in Bareilly district held its breath Friday as Jummat-ul-Wida prayers, marking the penultimate Friday earlier than Eid-ul-Fitr, had been held at a residence.
A policeman stood guard on the entrance to the lane the place most Muslims of the village reside, whereas two extra by no means left the facet of Hassen Khan, at whose residence the prayers had been being held. Half-a-dozen different police personnel stored a watch across the village of 1,200-odd individuals.
On March 11, a Division Bench of the Allahabad Excessive Courtroom directed round the clock safety to Hassen, on a petition by his relative Tarik Khan asking that the Bareilly District Justice of the Peace (DM) and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) be instructed to not intrude in prayers being supplied from the personal premises of Hassen.
Hassan Khan (Specific picture by Gajendra Yadav)
Hassen instructed the courtroom he was coerced into signing a flawed assertion that he was not current and namaz was carried out in his absence at his residence on January 16.
The Excessive Courtroom ordered that two armed guards shall accompany Hassen “wherever he goes”, including that “any incident of violence that afflicts Hassen Khan’s particular person or his property shall be prima facie understood to have (occurred) on the occasion of the State”. It additionally directed Bareilly DM Avinash Singh and SSP Anurag Arya to be current on the subsequent listening to on March 23.
In Mohammadganj, the place Muslims make up about 40% of the inhabitants, most households dwell off farming, primarily rising wheat and mustard, and rear cattle. A majority of the homes are kuchcha, and open drains criss-cross the village, thick with black sewage. The one faculty is a government-run major faculty.
The cattleshed of Tarik Khan which led to the preliminary row (Specific picture by Gajendra Yadav)
Tarik says tensions began on December 20 final 12 months, when he started building of a cattle shed beside his residence, on land owned by him. “We engaged some Hindu labourers from the village… They went to the authorities and the Bisharatganj Police Station complaining that I used to be establishing a madrasa. Police got here and picked me up.”
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Standing in the identical cattle shed, the place a lone cow is chewing cud, Tarik says he was made to present an endeavor on a stamp paper. He reveals two copies of the endeavor, dated December 31, 2025, and January 1, 2026, stating in Hindi: “I cannot do something on the constructed premises which can trigger any inconvenience to any particular person from any faith, caste or neighborhood or which can create an environment of unrest within the village.”
Tarik undertakes to bear accountability for any regulation and order problem resulting from any actions on the stated premises, and says: “I cannot have any objections if any proceedings are initiated in opposition to me on this regard.”
As per Hassen and Tarik, on January 16, police took motion once more and picked up round a dozen males, together with Tarik, for questioning after they supplied namaz on the personal premises of Hassen, who just isn’t within the village more often than not as he works as a labourer in Gurgaon.
Police deployed in Mohammadganj village in UP (Specific picture by Gajendra Yadav)
The lads had been launched after a short detention, with police saying it had acted given “the sensitivity of the matter” and “apprehending the opportunity of stress within the space”.
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Nevertheless, Tarik says, police continued to harass them. “We had been repeatedly requested to point out whether or not we had permission to carry prayers. Officers from the Bisharatganj Police Station got here virtually day-after-day. And since we didn’t have any such permission, we had been instructed we couldn’t supply namaz on Hassen’s premises.”
Then, on January 27, whereas listening to one other case, the Allahabad Excessive Courtroom upheld the proper to conduct prayers by an individual, as per their comfort, on their personal premises, with none permission from the federal government.
Tarik says he moved the courtroom in February, searching for that the authorities be restrained from interfering after they supplied prayers. Whereas listening to his plea, the Excessive Courtroom initiated contempt proceedings, searching for a response from the Bareilly DM and SSP on why motion shouldn’t be initiated in opposition to them for “flouting” its January verdict that stated that no such permission was required for personal premises.
Tariq Khan in entrance of the home the place namaz was supplied (Specific picture by Gajendra Yadav)
SSP Arya didn’t reply to calls and messages by The Indian Expressincluding on whether or not any motion had been initiated in opposition to any police personnel.
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Says Tarik: “In February, we might supply namaz solely on two days – fifth and 14th. After that, we might achieve this solely on Thursday after the (March 11) courtroom order.”
Hassen, who returned to Mohammadganj for Ramzan, and individually moved the Excessive Courtroom on March 11, says he was providing namaz alongside along with his relations at his residence when he was picked up by police “round February 20”.
Hassen additionally claims that sarpanch Arif Khan, of Bhindora panchayat below which Mohammadganj falls, warned him that if he didn’t inform the authorities that the namaz on January 16 was being supplied at his premises with out his permission and data, his residence can be razed.
Whereas each communities in Mohammadganj say Arif is “hand in glove with the authorities”, the sarpanch refused to touch upon the allegations, solely saying: “When an endeavor was given by Tarik, it ought to be adopted.”
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Shyam Bihari, 32, who lives lower than 500 metres from Hassen and Tarik’s houses, claims that as per “a 1995 casual understanding”, neither Hindus can have a temple within the village, nor Muslims a masjid. Tarik broke the pact, he says. “We can not enable them to wish like this.”
The devasthan the place Hindus collect to supply prayers (Specific picture by Gajendra Yadav)
By the way, just some metres from the village authorities faculty, there’s a devasthan the place Hindus collect for worship. The closest masjid is a few kilometres away, within the neighbouring village of Rutia.
Tarik denies the claims, declaring that they had been solely gathering to supply prayers at residence. “We’ve got at all times achieved this. Nobody objected earlier. However some fringe parts have triggered this discord of late.”
As for the 1995 pact, Tarik and different Muslim residents say they’ve at all times adhered to it. “In reality, Hindus have the devasthan as a communal house of worship, and now we have none. However we are going to at all times maintain up our facet of the settlement.”
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Hassen says that due to the row, he has not gone again for work to Gurgaon, and is dropping “Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 a month”. Tarik provides that as he has not been capable of maintain his 20-bigha farm resulting from frequent rounds of presidency places of work, he’s observing losses.