GURUGRAM: Thirty kilometres from Gurugram, on the way to Pataudi, is Bhora Kalan , a village with a population of around 30,000 people.A state highway bisects the village’s main market. By the time you have travelled a kilometre into the bylanes on either side, the busy roads are replaced by narrow alleys, lined with old houses flaunting arches, wooden carved doors and murals. The bylanes converge at an old post office, right next to a mazar, which witnessed tense scenes on Friday Just after 4-5 Muslim men had gathered at the mazar to prepare for the first Friday prayers of Ramzan , around 50 local Hindu youths gathered there and threatened the faithful not to offer prayers at the mazar. The crowd kept swelling, and eventually, the prayer assembly was disrupted.“Initially, there were around 50 men. But soon, it swelled to at least 200. It was around 12 noon. Things were beginning to heat up when cops arrived to intervene, around 12.30pm. But we could not offer our prayers, and this was the first jumma namaz of Ramzan,” said a vegetable seller of the village, requesting anonymity.The atmosphere of festivity had turned into one of apprehension by then. This, however, was not the first time Muslims of the village had been stopped from offering prayers. Bhora Kalan has a history of such muscle flexing, according to villagers. In 2013, some villagers had asked their Muslim neighbours not to invite any maulvi or imam from outside the village for Friday or Ramzan prayers. As a result, Friday prayers stopped in the village for a year, before restarting in 2014.“In the past, they didn’t directly ask us not to pray, but told us we can’t ask a maulavi from another village over, which means we couldn’t offer Friday or Ramzan namaz,” said a 30-year-old who works at a cement plant in Gurugram. He added the matter was later resolved and they have been offering prayers without interference for last two years.But last Friday, when the whole of Gurugram offered Friday prayers amid an atmosphere of fear, tension began brewing again in Bhora Kalan. Hindus again warned Muslims not to invite maulvis. Then, Friday’s standoff happened.“We just want the freedom to offer namaz. We don’t wish for anything beyond that. As it is, our wives and children fear for us. If it gets any worse, we’ll leave the village and move somewhere else. What other choice do we have?” said a villager. A doctor who lives in Bhora Kalan said, “There is no dignity in living like this, where one can’t even pray in peace. I don’t want to leave my kids behind in such an atmosphere.”Police, though, offered a different version of events.The Manesar SHO flatly denied there was any trouble. However, later in the day, the DCP Manesar said, “It was a small matter as some 10-15 people had entered the village from outside to stop Friday prayers. Villagers came together and stopped them,” said Mahendar Sethi, DCP Manesar.

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