NewsKarnataka-Bantwal
Bantwal: Tension prevailed at Nehru Nagar near Panemangalore on January 31, Friday following differences that cropped up between the managing committees of two mosques over the issue of permitting special Friday Namaz.
It has been gathered that the authorities of Badria Jumma Masjid of Nehru Nagar and the Kendra Jumma Masjid at Akkarangadi failed to arrive at a consensus on the issue. Tight police security has been provided in the area to avert any untoward incident.
As the Akkarangadi Masjid people had not given a written permission to offer prayers at the Badria Masjid at Nehru Nagar, a resolution had been passed three weeks ago, seeking permission for the Friday prayers.
However, the Akkarangadi Masjid had failed to grant approval in this regard resulting in the problem.
The Nehru Nagara Masjid having a history of 35 years was recently renovated. Even the inaugural of the masjid was planned on Friday with the hope that the permission would be granted to offer prayer. However, when they did not get the permission from the Akkarangadi masjid even till the last minute, the Nehru Nagar Masjid people decided to go for a prayer at any cost which eventually resulted in tension. To add to the problem, the Akkarangadi masjid authorities had even lodged a complaint in the local police station asking not to permit the new masjid to offer Namaz.
The confusion resulted in the cancellation of the inaugural programme to be held in the presence of DK District in-charge Minister Ramanatha Rai.Finally, over 100 Muslim brethren offered offered namaz in a private land in the area amid police protection
The two masjids are located at a distance of 1 km and there are around 172 Muslin families in the area. J Abdul Hameed, President of the Kendra Jumma Masjid of Akkarangady says it was decided to permit the Friday prayers after the settlement of the land dispute. However, the new masjid authorities had secured a stay to the land survey creating problem, he said.
Meanwhile, PS Abdul Hameed, President of the Badria Jumma Masjid of Nehru Nagar said they had requested to permit the Friday prayers first and hoped that the other issues could be settled later on. However, they have hurt our sentiments by not permitting the prayers, he added.
