Protest march in Gurugram over FIR for stopping 'namaz'
Gurugram, April 30 A protest march under the banner of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti was taken out here on Monday to demand cancellation of an FIR against six youths on the charge of disrupting 'namaz' on government land.
The protesters gathered at the Kamla Nehru Park and marched to the Mini Secretariat, where they handed over a memorandum to the Additional Deputy Commissioner for forwarding it to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Six persons were arrested after an FIR was filed at the Sector 53 police station on Thursday evening for allegedly disrupting the Muslim prayers at an open ground in Sector 53 and threatening those offering prayers.
The FIR was registered against Arun, Manish, Deepak, Mohit, Ravinder and Monu on charges of hurting religious feelings, disturbing religious worship, and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code on a complaint by Wajid Khan and Nehru Yuva Sangathan Welfare Society Chairman Hazid Shahzad Khan.
Gurugram Police said the accused hailed from Wazirabad and Kanhai villages and did not owe allegiance to any right-wing group.
Civil Judge Neetika Bharadwaj had on Sunday granted bail to the six accused on technical grounds as police did not follow proper procedure before booking them.
The court also took into consideration the fact that the authorities did not give permission for holding the prayers on government land.
Former Gurugram Bar Association President Kulbhushan Bharadwaj, the counsel of the accused and who led the protesters, said: "People were conducting prayers on government land in front of a temple near Wazirabad without permission from authorities. Besides, police did not follow proper procedure for registering the FIR. Police also admitted in court that permission had not been given for conducting prayers."
"Efforts have been made in the past to vitiate atmosphere by pro-Pakistan slogans after prayers. When some youths stopped them from doing so, police took one-sided action and sent six of them to jail. A large number of these Muslims are from Bangladesh and don't possess proper identification documents." said the memorandum submitted by the protesters.
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Maharashtra assembly session begins with full recital of 'Vande Mataram'
Nagpur (PTI): Members of the Maharashtra assembly on Monday recited the full version of 'Vande Mataram' on the opening day of the legislature's winter session here, marking the 150th anniversary of the national song.
The House proceedings began with the customary recital of the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, followed by 'Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha', the official state song.
Speaker Rahul Narwekar said, "It is a tradition of the legislature to recite the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram on the first day of every session. However, as this year marks 150 years since its composition, the House will recite the entire song."
The legislators then recited the full song.
Notably, the Lok Sabha has listed 'Discussion on the 150th anniversary of national song Vande Mataram' on Monday and allocated 10 hours for the debate.
The debate in Parliament is part of the year-long celebrations on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, a poem written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and set to tune by Jadunath Bhattacharya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hit out at the Congress, accusing it of removing key stanzas from the song in 1937 and sowing the seeds of partition.
On November 7, Modi launched year-long celebrations to commemorate the 150th year of Vande Mataram, aimed especially at youth and students to deepen awareness of the song's significance.
During the assembly session, Narwekar also announced the names Chainsukh Sancheti, Kishor Patil, Rahul Patil, Uttamrao Jankar, Ramdas Masram, Sameer Kunawar and Saroj Ahire as presiding officers. They will chair proceedings in the speaker's absence.
