New Delhi: Uttarakhand state government has decided to give a special 90-minute break to government employees belonging to the Muslim community in the state for special Friday prayers.
“A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Harish Rawat has decided that a special break from 12:30pm till 2pm will be given to the employees from the Muslim community in Uttarakhand,” reliable sources in the state government informed Gulf News.
The decision is yet to be announced officially.
The state government also made other key decisions such as giving consent for a detailed project report for metro rail which has been awarded to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Reacting to the government’s plan to allow time to Muslim employees to offer prayers on Friday, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday lashed out at Rawat.
“What if the Hindu community says they need two-hour break on Monday for worship of Hindu deity Shiva, on Tuesday for another deity Hanuman and on Sunday for the Sun diety? Will the state government provide breaks to Hindus on such days? There should be equality in that case,” BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.
“This decision by the Uttarakhand state government is really unfortunate. It shows that for the sake of votes, the Congress government is willing to go to any limits. What is this logic? It should not have been done,” he added.
BJP leader Anil Baluni said Rawat was trying to appease New Delhi: Uttarakhand state government has decided to give a special 90-minute break to government employees belonging to the Muslim community in the state for special Friday prayers.
“Chief Minister Harish Rawat has taken this decision because he is scared of losing the upcoming assembly elections. He knows he is very badly placed right now. Rawat wants to win the elections by hook or by crook,” Baluni said.
He added that Rawat was following the Congress tradition of misleading Muslims.
“The Congress party of Harish Rawat has taken the decision right before the state assembly elections. What was playing on the mind of Chief Minister Rawat? Is it not clear? He is clearly trying to influence elections by enticing Muslims,” Baluni stated.
Hindu fundamentalist party Shiv Sena also attacked Rawat for this decision.
“Shiv Sena Parliamentarians will definitely raise this issue in Parliament. It is a wrong move and an appeasement of minorities. It is not good for the secular fabric of the country,” Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande told media.
“Today one state is coming with such a thing, tomorrow other states will follow and this is a complete appeasement policy towards Muslims which the Congress has been doing from the last 60 years,” Kayande added.
However, Congress leaders expectedly defended the decision.
“Bharatiya Janata Party has no right to complain when it seeks votes in the name of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. If it is an election stunt, then one must also see the Rs1.400 billion and 800 tonnes of gold collected for the Ram temple. Did they make the temple? It was just a tactic to befool voters and collect votes,” Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyaya said.
He said the decision should be respected.
“This decision taken by the Uttarakhand government is of immense secular value. It should be welcomed and people’s belief and every religion should be respected,” he said.
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