Stone pelting reported in Hubbali as Karnataka Police shut mosques
Following the deployment of additional forces from the Karnataka police on Friday (April 3) near prominent mosques in Bengaluru and other cities to ensure people don’t break the curfew rules and gather for Friday prayers, an incident of stone pelting has been reported.
In Hubbali, a few police personnel and locals were injured in stone pelting allegedly over the police orders to shut the mosque.
Speaking to The Federal, Girish Bhojannavar, Huballi town police inspector said, “About 50-60 people had gathered at Bilal Mosque in the town limits. When we asked them to disperse and did not permit them to hold the Friday noon prayers, they got provoked and took to streets to protests against our decision.”
“Further, they pelted stones at us. Six police officers and five from their group were injured in the incident. We are in the process of registering an FIR,” Bhojannavar said.
Meanwhile, in Bengaluru’s Shivaji Nagar area which houses three prominent mosques—Masjid E Barline, Jumma masjid and Salafi Masjid near Russel Market, the police department deployed two platoons of police while they were doing rounds through the day advising people not to gather near the mosque.
This comes following the spread of pandemic after a large number of people attending a religious congregation at (Tablighi Jamaat) Delhi’s Nizamuddin area tested positive for the coronavirus.
About 11 from Karnataka who attended the Jamaat in Delhi tested positive on Thursday (April 2). Ever since, the police is strictly prohibiting mass gatherings even for religious purposes.
“The mosque authorities were asked to use loudspeakers and discourage people from gathering,” Mahadev Dharur, a police constable placed outside the mosque said. “They were also instructed to spread information and messages about the coronavirus pandemic.”
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The state government has ordered mosque committees to publicise the COVID-19 precautions on loudspeakers. The Karnataka State Wakf Board too had directed all mosques in the state to play audio messages through its loudspeakers four times a day to spread awareness about coronavirus. They also ordered for suspension of prayers (Salah) and daily namaz including Jummah (Friday Prayers) in all mosques of Karnataka until the curfew orders are in place.
While there are curbs on community prayers and mass gathering at mosques, there are no restrictions for Azaan, Islamic call to prayers.
While the civic body gave permission for the Russel Market, one of the biggest food market in Bengaluru, to operate between 6am and 10am, the police cleared it soon on Friday as the mosque was just behind the market.
On Thursday, the police raided several mosques in the state to check for violation of curfew orders. In North Karnataka’s Haliyal town, nine people were arrested for violating curfew orders and gathering at mosque for afternoon prayers on Thursday. They however were released on bail later.
Following the nation-wide lockdown up to April 14 announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, temples, churches and mosques across the state extended their support and accepted to shut down, keeping safety of citizens in mind.
With rising number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, the police imposed section 144 of the Crpc, prohibiting congregation of people in districts such as Bengaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Kalaburagi, Chikkaballapura, Mysuru, Kodagu and Dharwad.
On March 26, the Belagavi police lathicharged a group of people, who went to offer prayers at a mosque violating curfew guidelines.
#WATCH Police thrash people for violating #Coronaviruslockdown in Belgaum. The incident happened outside a Mosque when people were leaving after offering prayers. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/tF9Vx4iqV5
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2020
Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa who conducted a meeting with minority affairs officials, thanked the Muslim community for cooperating with the state government and agreeing to perform their daily prayers at home instead of mosques.
He further added that the community members agreed to provide details of persons who visited Tablighi Jamaat Markaz at Nizamuddin in Delhi.
“They (the minorities commission) agreed to provide details of those who attended the congregation in Delhi. Also, we requested them to convince those travellers to undergo tests for COVID-19 and undergo strict quarantine for a prescribed period,” he said.
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