India scraps Friday Prayer break for Muslim lawmakers, fueling controversy 

The provincial government of an Indian state has scrapped a two-hour Friday prayer break for Muslim lawmakers, starting a controversy that has echoed in the corridors of power in the country’s federal government in New Delhi.

The change in Assam, a north-eastern state close to Bangladesh and China, breaks an 87-year-old tradition in the Assam Legislative Assembly and was ostensibly done to discard a “colonial practice” that allegedly divided society along religious lines.

However, the move seems to have deepened the communal divide in the Hindu-majority, but constitutionally secular, country that’s home to the largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan.

“The two-hour break is a time-honoured tradition of the Assam assembly. All that the ruling alliance has demonstrated by scrapping the provision is their anti-Muslim bias,” says Ashraful Hussain, a regional lawmaker from the opposition All India United Democratic Front, the third-largest party backed mostly by Muslim voters in Assam.

Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for more. Download our app for the latest news, updates and interesting content!