The controversy over namaz allegedly offered by a group of people at newly-opened Lulu Mall in Lucknow refuses to die down with a Hindu outfit calling the mall a den of jihadis.
The Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) on Friday demanded that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath use a bulldozer on the mall, as is being done on illegal constructions and the properties of criminals in the state. ABHM chairperson Swami Chakrapani Maharaj said, “Lulu is not a mall, it is a masjid where love jihad is being carried out against Hindu girls. Yogi Adityanath should use a bulldozer on this den of jihadis”.
Chakrapani also demanded a high-level probe into the operations of the mall. “If namaz is being offered (at the mall), then Hindus will recite Hanuman Chalisa and perform jalabhishek (bathing idols with water) for Lord Shiv. A Hanuman temple should also be constructed there so that Hindus can offer prayers. The jihadi mindset will not be tolerated in India”.
Meanwhile, Shishir Chaturvedi, the spokesperson of the Hindu Mahasabha, who had declared that Hanuman Chalisa would be recited at the mall on Friday, was not permitted to leave his house.
Some members of the mall’s management reached Chaturvedi’s house to assure him that there would be no further offerings of namaz inside the mall.
Samir Verma, a manager at the mall, said, “All kind of religious activities are banned at the mall with immediate effect. We respect the religious feelings of all sections”.
The mall management also said that no employee had offered namaz.
Meanwhile, another video of men offering namaz in an open space at the mall surfaced on Friday. It was not clear when the video was shot. Supporters of Hindu outfits have taken to social media to call for a boycott of the mall “to save Sanatan Dharma”.
Most local newspapers on Friday carried full page advertisements about the opening of a Japanese clothing brand at the mall. However, Lucknowites who had turned up at the mall in huge numbers since it was inaugurated on July 10 are now cautious about visiting it for fear of trouble. The footfall on Friday was noticeably lesser.