On March 14, a photograph of a few Muslim children who were performing namaz in the middle of the road went viral on social media. The incident took place in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. The police have detained three people in the case who posted the photograph on social media. As the children blocked the road, there was a traffic jam on both sides of the road. BJP MLA Manish Jaiswal had demanded action from the district administration in the case. Reports suggest that the photograph is of March 12.
People with cheap mentality were behind the incident – Jaiswal
Manish Jaiswal, BJP MLA from Hazaribagh, said that people with a cheap mentality were behind the incident. They used children and put them at risk by provoking them to offer namaz on the road, he said. He further added that as soon as he came to know about the incident, he asked for action from the district administration.
Police sought a reply from Ibrahimi Mosque
After the photograph went viral, police sought a reply from Ibrahimi Mosque in the region and asked for details about the incident. Reports suggest that the mosque representatives said that the incident took place because of the miscreants and they should be punished.
As per report, the picture was taken during the Friday namaz on 12th March. On Saturday, a ‘peace committee’ meeting led by DSP Rajiv Kumar took place where he said that the offering of namaz on road by children caused inconvenience to people. Following this, the image went viral on social media with various comments ‘which could spoil communal harmony’ he claimed. He asked for strict action against those involved in this.
Ibrahimi mosque’s Mohammad Feroz claimed that the children offered namaz on the road because of ‘their innocence’ and no adult was involved in the same. He claimed that the children will be given community punishment so as to not repeat the same in future.
Long jam attracted criticism on social media
There was a long traffic jam on both sides of the road. As the photograph went viral, the netizens criticized unnecessary road blockade and demanded action against those who provoked the kids.
https://twitter.com/Rajput_Ramesh/status/1370770695337209862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/oldhandhyd/status/1370749943116308485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/Sujit047Kumar/status/1370708494530211844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/ModiVolunteer/status/1370932535069347845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/FltLtAnoopVerma/status/1370661643244466179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/ippatel/status/1370613973117136896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/MajorPoonia/status/1370656540357578753?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThree people detained by police
Superintendent of Police Kartik S said that the police had arrested three miscreants for posting the photograph on social media platforms. He noted that it was an attempt to spoil the communal harmony in the region deliberately. He further added, “people should avoid spreading any kind of rumour on social media. Everyone should be aware of such elements who try to spoil communal harmony.” He said the police would take strict action against anyone who spread such rumours.