Uttar Pradesh: Muslim offers namaz at a Hindu temple in Hapur arrested

On June 9, a Muslim youth stormed into the ancient Sidhpeeth Chandi temple in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh. The Hindu temple is located on chandi road in the Kotwali area of Hapur. After barging into the temple, the Muslim youth offered namaz sitting on the floor inside the temple premises.

This incident caused a massive uproar from the local Hindu community. According to the reports, on June 9 at around 5 in the morning, an unidentified youth entered the Chandi temple and started offering namaz on the floors inside the temple’s premises. The temple priests and devotees witnessed that an unindentifed man came inside spread a cloth on the floor of the temple and started offering namaz. Even the CCTV camera recorded the incident. When the people protested against the intrusion, the Muslim youth left the temple.

Hindu organisations also voiced their disapproval and demanded the arrest of the perpetrator when they learnt that namaz was being offered within the temple. While speaking to the media Vinay Agarwal, a member of the temple management committee, told that an unidentified person was offering namaz was on the floors of the temple.

After learning about the incidence, Inspector Sanjay Pandey reached to the temple for investigation and spoke to the priests and other visitors to gather more information. The police seized the DVR of the temple’s CCTV camera, got involved in the investigation, and registered an FIR (First Information Report) at the local police station.

In this regard, Hapur’s District Magistrate Prerna Sharma and Superintendent of Police Abhishek Verma also reached the site to investigate. The District Magistrate states, “This matter here at the Chandi Mandir came to light. I along with the SP and other police officers have discussed with the members of the temple committee and other devotees present here about this incident. We have also recorded their statements. This matter is being further investigated. We are also checking the CCTV footage”.

In reaction to the outrage of the public, SP Abhishek Verma, accompanied by ASP Mukesh Mishra deployed a sizable police presence around the temple. During the police investigation they arrested the accused muslim youth named Anwar, as per the media reports.

This is not the first incidence happening in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier same incidence happen in 2020, when two Muslim members of Khudai Khidmatgar entered the he premises of the Nand Baba temple in Mathura and started offering namaz. The muslim members are identified as Faizal Khan and Chand Mohammad, even an FIR was also filed aganist this act by the priest of the temple Kanha Goswami.

In the FIR, Goswami alleged, “No permission was sought from the priests or administration for offering ‘namaz’. Also, the photos of the ‘namaz’ were made viral on social media”.

As per the FIR, the accused came at 12.30pm on October 29 and did ’84 kos parikrama’, which is a common hindu practice in the Braj area of Mathura. Goswami alleged, “[Later] photographs of the two Muslims offering ‘namaz’ in the temple premises were uploaded on social media by Faizal Khan. This has hurt Hindu sentiments”.