No public namaz in Uttarkashi's Purola under VHP's pressure

Uttarkashi: Under pressure from the Vishva Hindu Parishad, Muslims in the communally sensitive Purola town did not gather for namaz in public places on Eid-ul-Adha.

Local SHO Ashok Chakravarty said the decision to not offer namaz in public place was taken by the community itself after a meeting was held on Wednesday to maintain peace.

VHP working president Virendra Rawat said the outfit had indeed asked Muslims to not gather for namaz in public places.

"We had no intention to hurt the religious sentiments of anyone. We only asked them not to offer namaz collectively in public places. Can anyone be stopped from offering namaz in the privacy of their homes?" Rawat said.

Purola found itself in grip of communal tension days after two men allegedly tried to abduct a woman in an auto on May 26 but were thwarted in their attempt by some alert locals. The two men were arrested the next day.

Hardline Hindutva outfits like the VHP and Bajrang Dal termed the incident an instance of "love jihad" stoking prolonged tension in the town that led to the imposition of prohibitory orders, declared to prevent a 'Mahapanchayat' by right wing Hindu outfits.

The following fortnight saw posters appearing on shops owned or run by Muslim traders threatening them with consequences if they did not shut their shops and leave the town.

Frightened Muslim traders kept their shutters down and some of them even left the town. Love jihad is a term used by right-wing activists alleging a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women to convert to Islam through marriage. The term however has no validity in the Indian penal law.