New Delhi: Days after the inauguration of Lulu Mall in Lucknow, the shopping complex has been caught up in a controversy over a group of people offering namaz in the open. A video of people offering namaz inside the mall surfaced on the internet and went viral. The video is said to of July 12.
A couple of Hindu outfits including the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha have raised objections to the ‘namaz in open’ and demanded that it must stop else they will start reciting Sundar Kand inside the mall.
The outfit also appealed to Hindu community to boycott the mall as the latter has been caught furthering interests of a certain community.
“People offered namaz on the floor in Lulu Mall, this shows that govt orders were violated in the mall. The government has directed that namaz cannot be offered in public spaces,” Hindu Mahasabha’s national spokesperson, Shishir Chaturvedi said.
Namaz inside Lulu Mall, Lucknow …. even malls are not spared now ? pic.twitter.com/lES84Sqhuy
— Vikas (@VikasPronamo) July 13, 2022
The Hindu outfit has also written to UP CM Yogi Adityanath and submitted a complaint to Lucknow police seeking action over the incident.
The video of namaz inside the mall also elicited several reactions on social media. Many netizens were angry over open display of faith while others called for the need of a designated area for prayers.
The Hindu organization also alleged that the mall was promoting love jihad. It claimed that 80% of the employees hired in the mall were Muslims while the rest 20% belonged to the Hindus. This has been done to promote love jihad, it alleged.
Lulu Mall inaugurated last week
The Lulu mall was inaugurated by CM Yogi Adityanath on July 10. The mall, spread over 2.2 million square feet area has about 300 retail shops and has 11-storey parking space. The mall has been witnessing stream of customers ever since opening.
The mall, with its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, operates in 22 countries including Middle East, Asia, America and Europe. In India, it’s 4 other units are situated in Thrissur, Trivandrum, Kochi & Bengaluru.