Chandigarh Dec 17 PTI Two Congress MLAs on Friday in the Haryana Assembly objected to CM Manohar Lal Khattars recent remarks over namaz terming it unfortunate and demanding that he take back his statement With several right-wing Hindu groups objecting to Friday prayers being offered by Muslims in open spaces in Gurugram Khattar had on December 10 said the practice of offering namaz in the open will not be tolerated He however had said an amicable solution will be found over the issue The Mewat MLAs raised the matter during the Zero Hour in the state Assembly whose winter session began here on Friday Mamman Khan MLA from Firozpur Jhirkha said when the country gained independence the Constitution gave freedom to practice religion of ones choice He said the CM recently gave a statement that Muslims cannot offer namaz in open spaces Why this grave injustice with us he asked I request him that he must take back his statement Khan said Punhana MLA Mohd Ilyas dubbed Khattars statement as unfortunate Be it Gurugram or any other place we should have freedom to offer namaz he said Three years ago the administration had designated 37 sites in Gurugram city for Muslims to offer Friday namaz A few months ago a group started protests against the prayers offered in the open after which there have been protests on Fridays for the past several weeks PTI SUN VSD RDK RDK

Chandigarh Sep 20 PTI Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will ride a bicycle from his official residence to the civil secretariat here on World Car Free Day on Wednesday according to an official statement The civil secretariat is nearly two km from Khattars official residence in Chandigarh and he had cycled the distance on a few occasions in the past According to the statement issued on Monday The chief minister will come to his office in the civil secretariat from his residence by bicycle so as to generate awareness amongst people The chief minister had said earlier that as far as possible people should use cycle to commute at least for short distances as it will help protect the environment In the 2019 assembly polls Khattar had travelled by train from Chandigarh to Karnal and then rode a bicycle to reach a polling booth to cast his vote PTI SUN SMN SMN

Chandigarh Aug 30 PTI Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattars anti-farmer agenda has been exposed as he defended the assault on peasants by accusing the Congress government in Punjab of fuelling the unrest against the Centres three farm laws Amarinder Singh said on MondayEarlier in the day Khattar put the onus of the unrest in his state against the Central legislations on the Amarinder Singh government in Punjab the Congress and the LeftHitting back the Punjab chief minister said The BJPs adamant refusal to revoke the laws reflected the vested interests of the party and its leadership which had once again placed their crony capitalist friends over the common man Blaming the BJP squarely for the unrest Amarinder Singh said the crisis would not have assumed such grave proportions had the BJP including the Haryana chief minister and his deputy heeded the farmers concerns and empathised with them instead of taking refuge in shameful lies for the horrendous attacks on the peaceful farmersHe said Khattars anti-farmer agenda has been exposed as the Haryana chief minister tried to defend the criminal assault on protesting farmers by putting the onus of their agitation on PunjabCant you see that the farmers of your own state are angry with you for your apathetic attitude towards them and your partys stubborn refusal to repeal the farm laws he posedThe farmers were fighting for their survival and did not need provocation from Punjab or any other state to protect themselves and their families CM Amarinder Singh saidRepeal the farm laws instead of blaming Punjab for the mess your party has put the farming sector in The BJP will have to pay for their sins in the upcoming Assembly elections in various states and in every poll thereafter he said Around 10 people were allegedly injured on Saturday as police lathi-charged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a national highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting A Kisan Mahapanchayat on Monday sought registration of a case against those involved in the lathi charge and threatened to lay siege to the secretariat there if their demands are not met by September 6The Punjab chief minister said the Khattar governments repeated attempts to forcibly end the farmers agitation and the derogatory and obnoxious terms used against farmers by various BJP leaders will backfireRecalling that the farmers had held protests across Punjab for two months before shifting focus to the Delhi borders Amarinder Singh said his state had not witnessed a single incident of violence during the periodEven recently when sugarcane farmers staged protests we negotiated with them and resolved the issue instead of using brute force he addedThe Punjab chief minister said he and his government were firmly with the farmers in their anti-farm laws stance and were even giving compensation and jobs to the families of those who have died at the Delhi borders because of the BJPs follies A government or a political party which allows such tragic and totally avoidable loss of lives to continue under its watch cannot survive he added PTI VSD NSD NSD