’Pehle madrassa, ab namaz se nafrat’: AIMIM’s Waris Pathan slams Assam CM Himanta Sarma on ending Jumma break

AIMIM leader Waris Pathan called Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma "anti-Muslim" as he slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state for scrapping the practice of 2-hour adjournment for Jumma prayers in the Assam Assembly.

Pathan believed that the move was "unconstitutional and in violation of Right to Practice Religion". His remarks came a day after the Assam Assembly abolished the two-hour Jumma break for offering Friday Namaz.

In a video message, Pathan asked, "This tradition dates back to 1937; what happened to you suddenly? ". He said, “I have said this before, and I say it again: the BJP government and a CM like Himanta Biswa Sarma are anti-Muslims.”

He added, "Inko pehle hamare khane peene se nafrat, hamare kapde pehne se nafrat, hamare madrasso se nafrat, ab manaz se nafrat... [Earlier, they hated our food and drinks, hated our clothes, hated our madrassas, now they hate namaz...]"

"This clearly shows that BJP government has failed on the issues of development and employment, so they have come forth with this matter...polarise and do your politics...," Pathan said.

Himanta Biswa Sarma reacts

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that Hindu and Muslim MLAs together sat and unanimously took the decision that they will work during this period also.

"The Hindus and Muslims of our Assembly sat in the Malas Rule Committee and unanimously resolved that the two-hour break is not right. We should work during this period as well. This practice started in 1937 and has been discontinued from yesterday," Sarma said.

Sarma said that people are free to offer namaz, but there won't be any 2-hour break granted for this. Meanwhile, Assam Speaker Biswajit Daimary said that the decision was taken as it had become difficult to hold discussions on Fridays due to a lack of time, news agency PTI reported.

(With inputs from agencies)