{"id":122982,"date":"2022-07-21T12:25:21","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T06:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=122982"},"modified":"2022-07-22T11:34:32","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T06:04:32","slug":"up-police-debunks-claim-that-hindus-offered-namaz-at-lulu-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/up-police-debunks-claim-that-hindus-offered-namaz-at-lulu-mall\/","title":{"rendered":"UP police debunks claim that Hindus offered namaz at LuLu Mall"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 10, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated<\/a> LuLu Mall in Lucknow. The grand opening witnessed a footfall of over one lakh people. Two days later, on July 12, an unidentified group of men offered namaz<\/em> inside the shopping arcade. A footage<\/a> of the incident was widely circulated online. Shortly after, an FIR was filed<\/a> by the mall\u2019s public relations manager Sibtain Hussain at the Sushant Golf City police station.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, members of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha staged a protest outside the mall and sought permission from the local authorities to recite Hanuman chalisa<\/em>. On July 15, four people attempted to carry out religious prayers inside the mall premise. On July 16, two youths recited Hanuman chalisa<\/em> while sitting right below a mall notice forbidding religious prayers. All of them were soon arrested. Those who seek to follow key events related to this controversy can read this report by The Quint<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On July 18, National Herald, a national newspaper linked to the Indian National Congress (INC), reported, “Even as Lucknow Police claim to have launched a manhunt for miscreants who offered Namaz at the mall on Wednesday, CCTV footage exposes they were novices and probably non-Muslims.” (Archived link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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Even as Lucknow Police claim to have launched a manhunt for miscreants who offered Namaz at the #LuluMall<\/a> on Wednesday, CCTV footage expose they were novices and probably non-Muslims https:\/\/t.co\/p3SNo004et<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 National Herald (@NH_India) July 17, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani shared the report by National Herald and made the claim that “Sanghis are reading namaz in Lucknow”. She later deleted her tweet. Others who shared this report include columnist M Reyaz<\/a>, Scroll’s editor Naresh Fernandes<\/a>, Twitter user Hana Moshin Khan<\/a>, Popular Front of India’s general secretary Anis Ahmed<\/a>, and Milli Gazette editor Zafarul-Islam Khan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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On the same day, journalist Rohini Singh tweeted, “So it turns out that those offering the namaaz at Lulu mall in Lucknow were actors who probably wanted to create social unrest.” This tweet gained over 2,000 retweets. (Archived link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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On July 18, several social accounts shared a press note by Sushant Golf City PS claiming that Hindus have been arrested for reciting namaz. <\/em>This was based on the three Hindu names mentioned in the press note. Aman Dubey<\/a>, spokesperson for Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress (archived link<\/a>); UP-based journalist Wasiuddin Siddiqui<\/a> (archived link<\/a>), and Sanyukt Kisan Morcha member Himmat Singh Gurjar<\/a> (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n