Namaz room row: Turmoil in Jharkhand over allocation of prayer room in Assembly, ripple effects in UP, Bihar

The decision of Jharkhand Assembly to allocate a namaz room within its premises for MLAs to offer prayers has created a ripple effect in other states. While on Tuesday, a Samajwadi Party MLA in Uttar Pradesh demanded a similar room in the UP Vidhan Sabha, a BJP MLA in Bihar has urged for an arrangement to chant “Hanuman Chalisa” and recite the “Bhagavad Gita” by Hindu lawmakers. 

Calling it a “strike on secularism”, a PIL was filed at the Jharkhand high court against the decision by the state assembly. Protests marked the assembly proceedings as many MLAs of the BJP came dressed as Hindu priests to oppose speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto’s decision. They demanded the speaker to call the lunch break 30 minutes ahead of its schedule on Tuesday, so that BJP legislators could pray to Lord Hanuman.

On Tuesday, Irfan Solanki, a Samajwadi Party MLA from Kanpur, said that he has approached the UP assembly speaker demanding for a namaz room within the assembly premises.

BJP MLA Hari Bhushan Thakur Bachol in Patna, urged a room to chant the “Hanuman Chalisa” or recite the “Bhagavad Gita” in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha. “I have spoken to Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha on Tuesday but he has not yet promised to meet my demand,” the BJP MLA said.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a PIL was filed in the Jharkhand High Court over the allocation of a separate room to offer namaz inside the state assembly building.

Petitioner Bhairav Singh called the move as a strike against secularism. The assembly is a public building and allocating a prayer room for a special class or community is against the secular and the social fabric of society at large, he said.

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