National Conference leader Omar Abdullah while denouncing the registration of a case against 26 Muslims in India’s Uttar Pradesh state said that the problem was not with mass gathering but the offering of namaz.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a tweet, Omar Abdullah said, “I’m sure if one of the neighbours had a hawan [Hindu way of worship] with 26 friends and relatives that would be perfectly acceptable. It’s not the mass gathering that is the problem, it’s the offering of namaz.”
The case was registered against 26 Indian Muslims in Muradabad district, UP, under the Indian Penal Code section 505. Namaz was being offered at Dellepur village of the district. The Muslims named in the FIR said the land where namaz was offered at a privately-owned property.
Wahid Saifi, named in the FIR, said, “We are legal owners of that land where namaz was being offered frequently since Independence. But recently, some miscreants, claiming themselves to be Bajrang Dal activists, objected to it claiming it was a new practice.—INP
