Friday prayers by Muslims at public spaces are likely to be restricted further to only 21 spots in Gurgaon after Muslim representatives failed to put up a united front at tripartite talks with the district administration and Hindutva groups as well as residents’ associations opposed to the practice.

A meeting on Wednesday between representatives of the Muslim community and Hindu residents, chaired by deputy commissioner Yash Garg, ended without a resolution of the month-long protests by local people led by Hindutva groups at Jumma namaz sites in public spaces.

The district administration, which has been providing police protection to namaz at sites where Hindu activists have faced off with Muslim worshippers, is said to have withdrawn consent for eight of the 37 such sites in the city.

After Wednesday’s talks, Hindu groups under the banner of Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti said in a statement: “In a joint meeting called to resolve the dispute, the Muslim community demanded that the mosques which are illegally occupied should be restored so that they can carry out their prayers. This demand was supported by the Hindu representatives by saying that it is not proper to occupy anyone’s property or land…. The number of places for the coming Friday will be decided after mutual consultation.”

But a key Muslim representative accused the RSS-backed Muslim Rashtriya Manch of “sabotaging” the talks.

Hindutva groups and residents’ welfare associations have held protests over the past month — particularly at grounds in Sectors 47 and 12A — during namaz on Friday.

The Samiti is set to organise a Govardhan Puja at the site in Sector 12A on November 5, Friday, to which it has invited provocative Hindutva leaders Kapil Mishra of the Delhi BJP and Yati Narsinghanand of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi temple.

Haji Shahzad Khan, who leads the Muslim Ekta Manch — one of the parties to the talks — told this newspaper on Thursday: “We have agreed with our Hindu brothers to offer the Jumma namaz at 21 public grounds from tomorrow, in addition to 26 Muslim institutions. We will not pray on the grounds in Sectors 47 and 12A.”

He added: “We have requested the administration to free up 19 waqf properties where large gatherings have been curbed because some from our community had used loudspeakers beyond the sound limit and parked vehicles on thoroughfares. We have been assured that this will gradually be done after the festive season.”

In 2018, disruptions of Friday namaz by Hindutva groups had led to a curtailment of the gatherings from 106 public places to 37 designated by the district administration. Three of these spots are mosque premises.

The Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch, which promotes inter-faith harmony, has underlined that the newer parts of Gurgaon — an industry hub with thousands of workers — has only two mosques. This compels the Muslim workers to use public spaces like unoccupied government and private land.

After Wednesday’s meeting, community leader Altaf Ahmad who had participated in it said in a statement: “Today’s meeting at DC office was sabotaged by Right-wing group representatives & Muslim Rashtriya Manch (RSS wing) representative Khurshid Rajak who are driving their one-point agenda of suppressing Muslims.

“The Muslim community is shocked to know that administration has cancelled 8 points from the 37 spots of Juma namaz agreed upon in 2018. The administration (is) certainly under pressure from threats issued publicly by the Right-wing groups.”

DC Garg did not respond to calls or WhatsApp messages from this newspaper.

After a meeting of Muslims led by Ahmad on Thursday, former Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Adeeb told reporters that many of the representatives called by the administration represent neither Hindus nor Muslims.

“We will try to go to court, meet the administration and political parties as it is a constitutional right to practise one’s faith…. Give us temporary permission until plots are allotted for mosques to be built,” Ahmad said. “No agreement is acceptable to the Muslim community of Gurgaon with the current representation (in the talks).”

On Tuesday, the Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch, which includes Ahmad, had said in a statement that it would start a campaign “online and offline to counter hatred with reason and to counter fake news and false allegations with facts”.

It added: “Peace, harmony and safety are the three critical pillars on which industry and business survives and grows. The current attempt to break these pillars has serious implications for all Gurgaon residents and their future.”