Uttarakhand Tensions simmer in Jyotirmath over namaz at govt building

     Gopeshwar (U'khand), Feb 19 (PTI) Authorities in Jyotirmath in Chamoli district held a meeting with community members on Thursday, sensing a fragile situation creeping in after a video of namaz being read in an under-construction government building hit social media.
     Meanwhile, the municipality withdrew the verbal permission given for namaz and locked the building.
     Jyotirmath Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Chandrashekhar Vashisht told reporters that a meeting was held with members of both communities as a precautionary measure for peace.
     He said the police have been instructed to keep a vigil on elements that may disrupt the atmosphere.
     Some Hindu outfits met the district magistrate and superintendent of police on the issue and demanded an investigation.
     At the heart of the controversy is a video depicting a few people reading namaz on a table tennis court under-construction in the Meat Bazaar area of ​​Jyotirmath Municipality.
     Municipal Council President Deveshwari Shah told reporters that Muslims had obtained verbal permission to offer namaz.
     However, after a meeting of councillors chaired by Shah in the evening, the room in the building was locked.
     In 2017, the management of a gurdwara here had opened its gates for the members of the Muslim community to read namaz on Eid al-Adha due to heavy rain.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)