They called for its boycott over a video of namaz being performed at the premises and alleged that the mall promotes “love Jihad”
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Barely three days after its inauguration by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Hindutva supporters started targeting Lulu Mall of Lucknow. They called for its boycott over a video of namaz being performed at the premises and alleged that the malll promotes “love Jihad”.
A video of some Muslims offering namaz is being shared on social media by the Hindutva supporters. They claimed that the video is from the recently-inaugurated Lucknow’s Lulu Mall. Their contention is that namaz cannot be offered there.
On Wednesday, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha issued a statement asking people to boycott the mall over the namaz being offered on the mall’s premises. The Mahasabha gave an ultimatum that if the namaz was performed at the mall again, they would perform Sundar Kand there to register their protest.
The Mahasabha urged the Uttar Pradesh Government to follow its own rule that namaz cannot be performed at public places.
The Hindutva outfit also alleged that the mall is promoting “Love Jihad” by hiring 70 percent men from a particular community (Muslim) and 30 percent women from other community.
“This mall belongs to a man who believes in extremist thought of religion. A great amount of black money has been used in the mall,” claimed the Mahasabha referring to the Muslim identity of the owner.
The Hindutva groups referred to the owner of the Lulu Malls, Yusuf Ali M A, who is Muslim of Kerala-origin, is doing business in the UAE. He has established four Lulu Malls in India. Ali had also donated 25 crore to PM-Cares fund for covid relief.
A campaign is also being run against the Lulu Mall on social media.
The Organiser, which is a mouthpiece of Rashtriya Swayanmsevak Sangh (RSS), shared the video of Muslims offering namaz at the mall describing it “shocking”. It also claimed that all the male staff in the mall are Muslim and female staffs are Hindus.
The claim made by the Organiser is different from the Mahasabha which said 70% staff are Muslim while the rest of the staff is female from the other community.
Some Hindutva supporters are also trending #BoycottMuslimBusinesses along with the call for boycotting Lucknow’s Lulu mall.
“Lulul group is funded and owned by UAE-based Indian businessman Yusuff Ali Muslaliam Vettil Abdul Kader. If you really want to boycott that community, boycott these big shots first,” tweeted Alok Kumar Gupta.
On 10 July, UP CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the mall in Lucknow.
However, the campaign against the mall has also been criticised by some people. They pointed to the double standard of the Hindutva supporters by citing the Prime Minister’s prayer at the inauguration of the national emblem at the new parliament building.
Some people said that such Islamophobic behaviours will create hurdle in the economic progress of the country.
“Now, a row over #Namaz being offered at #LuluMallLucknow A Hindu group complains to the police & Chief Minister. Can India have economic prosperity with Islamophobia, hate & bigotry on the rise? Is this the India we want our children to grow up in?,” said Journalist Neha Khanna.
Another journalist, Rohini Singh, questioned the outrage against the namaz asking whether praying is a crime in the country.
The mall authority is yet to make any statement in this regard. Clarion India tried to contact the authority, but there was no response from the mall. However, some news outlets reported that the mall authority is not aware of the video. They are trying to identify the worshippers. The authority also said that they don’t allow namaz at the premises.
