Tight Security, Curtains Put Up At Bhojshala For Friday Namaz

Bhopal: The Muslims on Friday offered namaz at the designated site, close to the Bhojshala temple complex at Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, amid unprecedented security arrangements in the town.

Giant white curtains, covering the barricaded namaz site, acted as a wall between the Bhojshala complex and the designated namaz site even as Hindus recited Hanuman Chalisa amid beating of cymbals and drums, as a part of the rituals performed at the Vagdevi temple inside the Bhojshala complex, coinciding with the namaz offered at the nearby designated site.

“Devotees recited Hanuman Chalisa and performed puja at the sanctum sanctorum of the Vagdevi temple as we are permitted by the court to do pujas from sunrise to sunset at the shrine”, Bhojshala protection committee secretary Biswas Pandey said.

A call was earlier given by the committee to the Hindu devotees to attend the Hanuman Chalisa recitation programme at the Vagdevi temple on Friday.

Meanwhile, around 500 Muslims offered namaz at the designated site.

“Necessary security arrangements were made around the Bhojshala complex and the designated namaz site to maintain law and order’, Dhar district collector Priyank Mishra said.

Dhar district superintendent of police Sachin Sharma said that necessary arrangements were made to facilitate namaz at the designated site as per the interim order in this regard by the supreme court.

Heavy security arrangements were made around the Bhojshala complex and the namaz site with the deployment of around 1000 security personnel and drone and CCTV surveillance provisions to maintain law and order in the town, the police officer said.

Earlier, an alternative namaz site was arranged by the local administration after the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court declared Bhojshala as a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Saraswati) and allowed the Hindus to perform puja there round-the-year.

The Muslims however had rejected the site chosen by the local administration for Friday prayer terming it too far from the Kamal Maula Mosque inside the Bhoshala complex, where they used to offer namaz every Friday earlier.

They then moved the supreme court for its intervention to find a site close to the Kamal Maula Mosque to offer namaz.

The apex court in its interim order then directed the local administration to find a namaz site accordingly.

The supreme court has fixed October 29 the next date of hearing in the case.