Men who offered Namaz at Lulu Mall had no clue how to offer Namaz: Report quotes Police
CCTV footage shows their 'Namaz' ending in 18 seconds before they hurried out of mall
Lucknow: Days after controversy erupted due to a viral video on social media showing a few men offering Namaz at the newly inaugurated Lulu Mall in Lucknow, a report published in National Herald India has claimed the CCTV footage of the mall on the said day shows the men offering Namaz at the mall had the least idea of offering the Muslim prayer. It has also added the whole episode is turning out to be a conspiracy to malign the image of the mall.
The controversy surfaced after a video was shared across social media platforms on Wednesday showing a few men dressed in evidently looking Muslim attires offering prayers in the premises of the mall. Right-wing Hindutva organisation Hindu Mahasahab had taken offence at the video and demanded that Hindus should be allowed to chant Hanuman Chalisa and perform Hindu rituals if Muslims were allowed to offer Namaz.
They had also alleged that 80% of the men employed at the mall were Muslims but the women were all Hindus. This was, they alleged part of Love Jihad, the National Herald India report added.
The mall was inaugurated by UP CM Yogi Adityanath two days before the controversy was triggered. An FIR was lodged by the mall management and a police investigation was initiated. The mall management refuted all the allegations and shared details of its employees with the police and the militant Hindu organisations to disprove them.
According to the published report, CCTV footage of the said day has now surfaced and it raises several suspicions about the claims of Hindutva organisations. It also points at deliberate mischief to malign the mall and stroke enmity and hatred among communities.
CCTV footage shared by the mall shows eight men gaining entry into the mall together. None of them make any effort to look around the mall or visit any showroom. They neither purchased anything nor were interested in taking selfies in the mall, the report stated.
Seemingly in a hurry, they start looking for a place to sit down and offer Namaz. They first tried the basement, followed by the ground floor and the first floor—where security guards stopped them. Then they proceeded to the second floor, which was relatively less crowded. Six of the men immediately sat down to offer Namaz while the remaining two appear to have got busy recording videos and taking photographs, it further added.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Rajesh Kumar Shrivastava conceded that the footage made it clear that the men had no clue about how Namaz is offered. He was hopeful that the miscreants would be arrested soon.
While it takes seven to eight minutes to complete the ‘Namaz’, these men in a hurry completed it in less than a minute—in fact in 18 seconds flat. Activist and social worker Tahira Hasan, who had flagged concerns of a conspiracy right at the beginning, says that the men were clearly ignorant that Namaz is always offered while facing the Kaaba, which is roughly the west direction in north India. While all of them face the West, one of them has his face to a different direction, National Herald claimed.
After offering the hurried Namaz and recording the video, they exited the mall in a hurry and made no attempt to linger and look around the mall, it further reported.
Late on Saturday evening, DCP (South) and Sushant Golf City Inspector were replaced for their failure to scan the CCTV footage at the beginning of the controversy. The mall management had sought time to scan the footage and shared the incriminating footage with the police.
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Chhattisgarh govt enforces austerity measures, restricts foreign travel and cuts convoy vehicles
Raipur (PTI): The Chhattisgarh government on Saturday rolled out a set of austerity measures, including restricted use of convoy vehicles for the chief minister, ministers and heads of state-run bodies, besides curbs on foreign travel at government expense.
The state has decided to implement the cost-saving steps with immediate effect to ensure efficient management of financial resources and discipline in public spending, said a directive issued by Finance Secretary Rohit Yadav.
The move follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for austerity amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
The order said that only essential vehicles should be used in the convoys of the CM, ministers and office-bearers of corporations, boards and commissions, while ensuring restrained use of other government resources.
It also directed departments to take steps for a phased conversion of all official vehicles into electric vehicles in order to promote the use of EVs.
As part of fuel-saving measures, expenditure on petrol and diesel for government vehicles should be kept to a minimum, the directive said.
Vehicle pooling arrangements should also be implemented for officials of departments travelling to the same destination, it added.
The order further stated that foreign travel of government employees at state expenses will be completely prohibited except under extremely unavoidable circumstances. In such cases, prior approval of the CM will be mandatory.
To reduce administrative expenditure, departments have been instructed to hold physical meetings preferably only once a month and encourage virtual and online meetings. Regular departmental review meetings should compulsorily be conducted through video conferencing, it said.
The government also stressed the need for energy conservation in its offices, directing that all electrical equipment, including lights, fans, air-conditioners and computers, must be switched off after office hours.
The directive will remain effective till September 30 this year.
Amid the war involving the US, Israel and Iran, Modi has suggested reducing petrol and diesel consumption, using metro rail services in cities, carpooling, increased use of EVs, utilising railway services for parcel movement and working from home to conserve foreign exchange.
