AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi hits out at Uttar Pradesh govt for Noida Police namaz ban

A day after the Uttar Pradesh Police issued a notice ordering offices and establishments to direct their Muslim employees to stop offering Friday prayers in open areas such as parks in Noida, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday hit out at the state government alleging that the Uttar Pradesh Police would shower petals on kanwariyas, but would tell the Muslims that whatever they did, 'it was their mistake'. According to the notice issued by the police stations in Noida, including at the Sector 58 industrial hub, companies will be held liable if their employees are found violating the directive.

"UP Cops literally showered petals for Kanwariyas, but namaz once a week can mean disrupting peace & harmony. This is telling Muslims: aap kuch bhi karlo, ghalti to aapki hi hogi. Also, by law, how does one hold an MNC liable for what their employees do in an individual capacity?" Owaisi said in a tweet.

UP Cops literally showered petals for Kanwariyas, but namaz once a week can mean “disrupting peace & harmony”. This is telling Muslims: aap kuch bhi karlo, ghalti to aapki hi hogi.

Also, by law, how does one hold an MNC liable for what their employees do in individual capacity? https://t.co/b90Jw5ZMHY

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) December 25, 2018

Read More | Noida Police's ban on Friday Namaz in parks triggers row

According to a notice issued last week by police stations in Noida, including at the Sector 58 industrial hub, companies will be held liable if their employees are found violating the directive. The companies in the Sector 58 industrial hub had sought a meeting with the top Noida Police officers for a better understanding of the order, particularly on the clause that threatens to hold them liable for violations of the order by employees.

A police station in Noida issued notices to 23 private companies asking them to stop their Muslim employees from offering prayers in a local park. Sector 58 Station House Officer (SHO) Pankaj Rai, who issued the notices, cited a Supreme Court order of 2009, which banned unauthorised use of public places for religious activities by all religions.  

“We want to inform you that there is no permission from the administration to conduct any kind of religious activity including Namaz offered on Friday in the Authority park in Sector 58. It has been often seen that the Muslim workers of your company assemble in the park to offer Namaz and I, the SHO, have told the group to not hold prayers in the park. Also, their plea to the city magistrate has not received any permission to do so.”

“Thus, it is expected from you that you at your level inform your Muslim employees to not come to the park to offer Namaz. If employees of your company come to the park, it will be assumed that you have not informed your employees and your company will be held liable.”

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“Yes, we have sent notices to many companies in our area after several complaints regarding a large number of people offering Namaz in the afternoon especially on Fridays. Since most people offering prayers are employees in companies nearby, we have sent notices to those companies to ask their employees to either offer Namaz in a Masjid, Eidgah or within the office compound on the roof etc,” said Pankaj Rai, SHO of the Sector 58 police station, from where the initial round of notices were issued.

Sector 58 is predominantly an IT and services hub. The companies that have office include Alstom Systems, HCL Technologies, TCS, Samsung, Polaris, Xansa, Interra, R Systems, RMSI, Cadence, Adobe international, ST Microelectronics and Minda Huf.