Several members of the Hindu outfit Hindu Janajagruthi Samithi (HJS) barged into a resting room for railway porters on one of the platforms of the Kranthi Veera Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) Railway station in Majestic of Bengaluru that also happened to be used by Muslim porters as a prayer hall. The incident occured on Sunday, January 30. Videos of the incident have surfaced online where one of the members shooting the video is heard saying that an arrangement has been made to wash their hands and feet like a masjid.

Meanwhile, a source with the Railways police told TNM that while prayers for different communities have been allowed in the said room for many years now, there has been no complaint so far about the prayer causing inconvenience to anyone. The source added that possible action based on the complaint will be taken only if instructions from senior officers are given. 

In a letter written to the station manager of KSR, The HJS claimed that the resting room had been converted into a place of worship by Muslims and further claimed that it was a “threat from the national security point of view.” The HSJ further went on to claim that providing permission for the prayer hall “seemed to be a conspiracy” and claimed that this would create chances of the Muslims demanding the creation of a masjid.

The HSJ in the letter also stated that The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested a person from West Bengal named Adil Asadullah from the Bengaluru Cantonment Station in 2018. They also said that two more ‘terrorists’ were arrested from Majestic and Cottonpet which is close to the railway station. Pointing to this, they made an absurd link between several alleged terrorists being arrested by authorities around the KSR railway station and questioned how appropriate it was to allow a place of worship on the platform of the railway station.

The HSJ in the letter, also stated that action must be taken against those who have permitted the “unauthorised place of prayer” and demanded that “prayer should not be allowed at the resting room.” The HSJ threatened a “severe protest” if the authorities failed to take action.

Editor's note: The initial headline had erroneously said that the Hindutva group barged into a prayer hall. It is a porter resting room, a portion of which is used for offering namaz. The error has been corrected.