Noida, December 25: In a controversial order, the Noida district administration has issued a circular which bars employees of offices and establishments to stop offering prayers in open areas such as parks. According to the order, if violated, the companies will be held liable for violating the directive.
The order was passed last week, after which the companies sought a meeting with the senior officials for clarification on the matter. The order is mainly served in the IT and services hub – Sector 58 – of Noida. Also, due to the directive, there is confusion whether it could be extended to other areas of National Capital Region township.
Stating the reason for such an order, Noida SSP Ajal Pal informed, “Few people had asked for permission for religious prayers in a park in Sector 58. In spite of no permission granted from city magistrate office people congregated. The companies in the area were informed about it. The info is not specific to any particular religion.”
Defending the move, police officials cite the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and state that communal harmony could be disturbed. Confirming the directive, SHO of Sector 58 police station Pankaj Rai said, as reported by Indian Express, “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.,”
The official statement states, “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.”
Adding on, it states, “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.”
The police officer states that an increasing number of people offering payers had triggered the notices and that is why they have sent the directive to companies. As per the reports, companies that in Sector 58 include – HCL Technologies, Alstom Systems, Xansa, Interra, Polaris, R Systems, RMSI, Cadence, Adobe International, TCS, ST Microelectronics, Samsung and Minda Huf.