Malick Asghar Hashmi/Gurugram

"I'm surprised; my family members are surprised. What have we done that we have been receiving phone calls. People are suddenly praising me. It's not the first time that I have done it; have been doing it always.”

This is the reaction of Akshay Yadav, a resident of Sector 12, Gurugram, a cybercity adjacent to Delhi in Harayana, who is in news for offering his properties for Muslims to offer namaz on Fridays after the roadside prayers were objected to for causing inconvenience to residents and motorists.

It is worth mentioning here that at present there is a dispute going on in Gurugram regarding offering Friday prayers in the open. Some fundamentalist organizations are not only opposing this, they also keep trying to interfere while offering Namaz.

Background to the controversy would help readers know why Akshay Yadav deserves all the accolades. ​Sector 12 of Gurugram is close to Gurugram Roadways Bus Stand and BSNL Telephone Exchange. The area is famous for auto spare parts and motor mechanic shops. Most of the workers in these shops are from states like Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, and generally Muslims.

Muslims offering Namaz at the garage owned by Akshay Yadav in Gurugram

Being away from their homes and in the same field, they share a close bond and celebrate and pray together. They are together in observing Ramazan fasts and Iftar, Taraweeh or Bakrid prayers, or even Friday prayers.

Most of the shop owners like Akshay Yadav are residents of old Gurugram. Apart from the shops, he also has a vehicle service station that he had given on rent. These days Friday prayers are being held in the service station itself.

Akshay Yadav owns many properties in Sector 12 and is into wildlife tourism. He says, “I love animals and birds, so made it a means of livelihood."

He operates from a posh office in the DLF enclave though most of the time he is away in jungles and mountains of Uttarakhand.

Akshay Yadav, whose late father Narendra Singh was in the Indian Navy, lives with his mother Vimala Dev,i and his wife and a son.

Akshay Yadav with his son at their home

Both mother and son are quite popular among the migrant workers of Sector 12 as they often go out of their way to help them. The workers who work in the shops say that both stand to help them all the time.

Akshay told Awaz-the voice, "My mother's behavior is something like this: In winter, she will make tea for the workers and have it delivered to them. In summer, she makes sherbet for them. Sometimes she will cook something special for them.”

Akshay says he and his family are surprised to get all the attention for offering their space for Friday namaz. “There is nothing new in this (out act). We have been doing this kind of work for the past many years.”

He said that five years ago one day his oldest tenant, a Muslim came to him and said he needed a quiet place to read Taraweeh. Akshay had no idea about Taraweeh. He inquired about it and knew that it is a longish prayer read after the night prayers during Ramazan and it’s read in a congregation.

Akshay was told that the space was needed for 25-30 persons. He offered the lawn of his house for Taraweeh. However, the workers felt embarrassed to disturb the family and instead got permission from the administration for holding the Taraweeh congregation on an empty plot of land belonging to Yadav.

Speaking to Awaz-The Voice, Akshay Yadav says that the Taraweeh has been going on since that time. After the completion of Taraweeh, many Maulanas are invited for a debate and again prayers are recited and sweets distributed.

“We are also involved in this.” He says that his mother makes special arrangements for the food and drinks of the workers observing fast during the Ramazan.

Friday prayers turn out to be an impromptu media event

Akshay and his mother Vimala Devi had arranged the rather pompous wedding of Ruby, a Muslim girl whose family hailed from UP. Ruby worked as domestic help with Ydavas.

Here is a video of the Friday prayers obeing offered at Akshy Yadav's property:

#Namaz being offered at Akshay Yadav’s open garage in the automobile market in Sector 12, #Gurugram

This is a small start, may it lead to a show of solidarity between people that defeats forces of hate.pic.twitter.com/cQwyItms00

— Karwan e Mohabbat (Caravan of Love) (@karwanemohabbat) November 19, 2021

He says his mother arranged the wedding of Ruby as she would have done for her daughter. From providing a dowry to arranging food for the groom’s family everything was done by his family. Even Akshay's friends and relatives joined Ruby’s wedding. Akshay says even today they are in touch with Ruby and her family members.

Speaking to Awaz-the Voice, Akshay gets emotional and says, "Hindu-Muslim are like two eyes. If garbage gets in one eye, the other will also have a problem. The country is running because of people who treat all religions as two eyes.”