Abu asks Fadnavis for special break for Muslims to perform Friday prayers

Samajwadi Party(SP) leader Abu Azmi on Thursday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and requested him to pass an order to allow Muslim government employees a special break of 90 minutes to perform Friday prayers.

"Citing constitutional freedom given to all citizens of our beloved secular country, I would request you on behalf of the Muslim community to please pass an order allowing Muslim government employees of the State of Maharashtra a special break of 90 minutes, to perform their Friday prayers," Azmi said in a statement.

"I hope you are aware of the weekly obligatory Friday prayers, to be performed by all Muslims. Even those Muslims who lack in performing daily five times prayer, love and overwhelm desire to not to miss the weekly Friday which has been compulsorily performed in a Masjid at a fixed time of about 1:30 PM," he added.

Influenced by the landmark decision of the Uttarakhand government, a special 90-minute break would be given to the government employees from the Muslim community in Uttarakhand for Friday prayers. The decision was taken at a special cabinet meeting on Saturday. The meeting was chaired by the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat. The break will be extended from 12:30 pm until 2 pm for Muslim employees.