“Namaz” in Public Spaces

140,000 Muslims recently gathered in Britain for a public prayer event in Birmingham's Small Heath Park organized by the Green Lane Mosque to mark the final day of Islam's holy month of “Ramzaan.” The annual Birmingham event began in 2012 with 12,000 faithful. Two years later, the number of the faithful rose to 40,000. In 2015, it was 70,000. In 2016, the number was 90,000. In 2017, it was 100,000. In 2018, the number was 140,000. The numbers are telling. Muslims throughout Europe celebrated the end of “Ramzan” with public prayers and city squares - from Naples (Italy) to Nice (France) - overflowed. In Italy, hundreds of Muslims prayed next to Colosseum, and Muslim prayers were held in front of Milan's Cathedral.

France is debating whether or not to block prayer on the street. “They will not have prayers on the street, we will prevent street praying,” Interior Minister Gerard Collomb announced. “Public space cannot be taken over in this way,” said the president of the Paris regional council, Valérie Pécresse, who led a protest by councillors and MPs.

How does this compare to the Middle East and North Africa? In Tunisia, praying in the street has been banned. And in Egypt, preaching from 20,000 “storefront mosques” was banned throughout “Ramzan”.

Coming to India, Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, part of the busiest National Highway in the country, NH-8 (now renumbered as NH-48 ) used to get blocked by Muslims for offering of “Namaz” on the occasion of “Id-ul-Fitr” and “Id-ul-Zuha” for a few years until a judicial intervention forced the administration to ensure uninterrupted flow of traffic. Administration provided alternative “public space” to the Muslims for the purpose.

During the last few months, there have been instances of Muslims gathering on Friday afternoons in empty plots of public/private land in Gurgaon, to offer the “Jumme-ki-Namaz” which led to some skirmishes and law-order situations. See- https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/more-than-what-meets-the-eye/article23875915.ece  

Public prayer is not a “normal” manifestation of the legitimate freedom of worship. Through such public events, some fundamentalist Muslims seem to be presenting an alternative to Indian secularism. These events have not been limited to Gurgaon and have been reported from main streets of Mumbai as well. The pseudo-secularists seem to be supporting such use of public spaces and may end up doing more harm to the country by supporting such ideas. These should not be brushed away as purely local incidents; for they appear to be a part of a well-orchestrated global-design by the fundamentalists.

After the “Arab Spring” it appears as though the Arab countries seem to know better than India or Europe that to contain Islamic fundamentalism, it is crucial to control the street.

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