Puja at Taj mosque: Local Muslims say they won’t file police complaint for ‘sake of peace’

  • | Sunday | 18th November, 2018

Circle Officer, Taj Security, Mohsin Khan said, “We have not received any complaint.” Agra: A day after three women activists of a local right wing outfit performed puja at the 400-year-old mosque in the Taj Mahal complex, local Muslims said they will not file a police complaint for the sake of “peace in the area”.Taj Mahal Masjid Intezamiya Committee president Ibrahim Hussain Zaidi told TOI, “We don’t want communal riots in the peaceful city of the Taj. That is the reason why we are not filing any police complaint against the women who performed puja at the mosque.” He, however, added that the entire Muslim community was hurt with this deliberate attempt of the right wing groups to disrupt communal harmony and the ASI’s “inaction”.Three women belonging to Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, a local right-wing outfit, offered puja at the mosque in the Taj Mahal complex on Saturday. The women lit ‘dhoop batti’ and poured ‘ganga jal’ inside the premises as a video of the incident went viral on social media.Later, the outfit’s district president, Meena Devi Diwakar, said, “If Muslims are being allowed to offer namaz on all days, then even we can offer puja at our Tejomahalaya (the term used for Taj Mahal by right wing activists).” When contacted, ASI superintending archaeologist (Agra circle) Vasant Swarankar said, “We had sent the ASI staff on the spot after we were informed. But no dhoop or any other puja material was found on the spot.”He added, “Local police has been informed of this and CISF has been asked to provide the CCTV footage whose authenticity will be checked.”Meanwhile, Congress city chief Haji Jamiluddin Qureshi said that the puja inside the Taj Mahal mosque was a “well-planned and deliberate attempt to vitiate” the peaceful atmosphere of the city.“The BJP wants to divide the two communities with such acts and polarise the voters ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” he added.An FIR was not registered till the filing of this report.

Agra: A day after three women activists of a local right wing outfit performed puja at the 400-year-old mosque in the Taj Mahal complex, local Muslims said they will not file a police complaint for the sake of “peace in the area”.Taj Mahal Masjid Intezamiya Committee president Ibrahim Hussain Zaidi told TOI, “We don’t want communal riots in the peaceful city of the Taj. That is the reason why we are not filing any police complaint against the women who performed puja at the mosque.” He, however, added that the entire Muslim community was hurt with this deliberate attempt of the right wing groups to disrupt communal harmony and the ASI’s “inaction”.Three women belonging to Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, a local right-wing outfit, offered puja at the mosque in the Taj Mahal complex on Saturday. The women lit ‘dhoop batti’ and poured ‘ganga jal’ inside the premises as a video of the incident went viral on social media.Later, the outfit’s district president, Meena Devi Diwakar, said, “If Muslims are being allowed to offer namaz on all days, then even we can offer puja at our Tejomahalaya (the term used for Taj Mahal by right wing activists).” When contacted, ASI superintending archaeologist (Agra circle) Vasant Swarankar said, “We had sent the ASI staff on the spot after we were informed. But no dhoop or any other puja material was found on the spot.”He added, “Local police has been informed of this and CISF has been asked to provide the CCTV footage whose authenticity will be checked.”Meanwhile, Congress city chief Haji Jamiluddin Qureshi said that the puja inside the Taj Mahal mosque was a “well-planned and deliberate attempt to vitiate” the peaceful atmosphere of the city.“The BJP wants to divide the two communities with such acts and polarise the voters ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” he added.An FIR was not registered till the filing of this report. Circle Officer, Taj Security, Mohsin Khan said, “We have not received any complaint.”

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