The Gurgaon Row: Not About Namaz?

The controversy over public namaz in Haryana's Gurgaon catapulted this hi-tech city into the national news. Over three days, from Wednesday leading to the Friday namaz, we focused on some of the prominent faces of the Sayunkt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, the organisation driving the protests. What they said made it clear that their choice of the namaz was not related to civic issues but was a pretext for a larger agenda that seeks to stoke fears about the Muslim minority. It is important to see this story visually - the symbols that surround these men convey a sense of power they command and their proximity to those in power.