On Tuesday (September 19), Samajwadi party MP Shafiqar Rahman Barq courted controversy after he demanded designated space to offer Namaz in the new Parliament building.
While speaking to the media, the 93-year-old politician said, “Naye Sansad mein Namaz ke liye bhi jagah honi chahiye (There should be a space for offering Namaz in the new Parliament). “
“There is no space to offer Namaz in this new Parliament building as well. There should have been space for prayer for Muslims in the new building at least to do ‘Allah Allah’ at the time of Namaz. But they have spread hate against Muslims. Do you think they will provide space for us?” Rahman was heard saying.
The development came on the first day of the proceedings of the Parliament in the new building. This is not the first time that the Samajwadi politician has made contentious remarks in public.
In February this year, he asserted that India has never been and would never be a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and claimed that Islam is the only true religion.
In October 2022, Shafiqur Rahman Barq went on a misgynistic rant and claimed that allowed women to walk without a burqa in public would only enhance wildness and promiscuity in men. He had also asserted that chanting Vande Mataram was against the tenets of Islam.
The Samajwadi party leader was earlier booked for hailing Taliban and comparing the radical Islamist outfit to Indian freedom fighters. He was also booked in conenction to violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh.