Housing Apartheid
The incident in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, where a Muslim couple was forced to give up their newly purchased home following protests from neighbours, serves as a sobering reminder of the fragility of communal harmony in India.
Activists of religious group Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) have registered their opposition to offering ‘namaaz’ on the streets by reciting “Hanuman Chalisa” on the road in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras.
According to reports, a group of HYV activists sat outside a Hanuman temple in Sikandrarau area and recited the “Hanuman Chalisa” repeatedly for over an hour on Tuesday evening.
The HYV men said that they would continue to hold recitation of “Hanuman Chalisa” every Tuesday till the Muslims stopped offering ‘namaaz’ on the roads.
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Ravindra Kumar Singh, an HYV activist, said that by offering ‘namaaz’ on the roads on Fridays, Muslims were causing inconvenience to the people since roads remained blocked.
“If they stop this practice, we will also stop otherwise we will make sure that ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ is recited outside each Hanuman temple on Tuesdays,” he said.
The police were silent on the issue. A senior police official said, “There is no complaint and no trouble so our role does not figure in the matter.”
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