A panchayat meeting was conducted over the dispute before the demolition. The people demanded for relocating the mosque to another suitable empty land. Similarly, a group of people also demanded that the Sheetagol Mata Temple be given another land to be rebuilt. The panchayat then finally decided the temple would be rebuilt only a short distance behind its current location. However, according to Amar Ujala, the issue of the mosque is still unsorted.

According to locals, the demolitions took place on 28th February. Sabrang India spoke to people on ground who stated that the mosque and temple were demolished under heavy barricading due to which there was a heavy and long traffic jam. The now-demolished mosque, the locals say, was only built shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. The people on ground are saying that they are going to be patient with this setback. The ulema of the mosque have also stated that they will be patient, and god willing, another mosque should be made. In words from the ground sourced by Sabrang India, citizens claim that the temple was dedicated to the deity Ram.

In a video by online news portal NS10, Zahoor Khan shows visuals from the ground before the demolition. The video shows the view from inside the mosque as it has being removed of all belongings in it. Khan says that the road-widening project will intrude and take more than 6-7 metres inside the mosque. A clip from the discussions with the administration can be seen, where the authorities are saying that the mosque administration knew of the demolition for months, to which the people responded that there was no written notice.

Amnesty International’s report, released recently, was conducted across all five states and revealed that many of such demolitions were conducted without following the due process. State authorities, without prior notice or any resettlement options, conducted these demolitions at times conducted without warning and often, under the cover of night which left the now displaced people in shock, with no time to evacuate their homes and businesses or protect their remaining things from their homes. Amnesty reports that it interviewed about 75 survivors out of which it noted that only six received any kind of prior notice from authorities about the demolitions. Even in those instances where they were offered any notice, it barely left them any time to challenge the demolition orders in court. The report also noted that existing provisions and laws do not meet human rights standards.

Related:

Demolitions as retributive state policy used against minorities in India: Amnesty

Invites to Ayodhya temple inauguration extended to judges who gave the verdict in Babri Masjid demolition-Ram Janmabhoomi case

January 2024: Raking up the myth of temple demolition

The post Mosque and temple demolished in Varanasi despite local outcry appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On social media, a video of a mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Saidabad being destroyed is being extensively shared. In the footage, you can see a bulldozer destroying a mosque. Reportedly, under the “pretense” of a road-widening project, a historic mosque known as the Shahi Masjid was destroyed on January 9 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh’s Saidabad market.

The Intezamia Committee of the Shahi Masjid had argued that the construction (Shahi Masjid) has been in existence for a long time, i.e., since before independence and hence the monument has historic value, too. It is during the 16th century, during Sher Shah Suri’s rule, who established the Sur Empire in India, that the mosque is said to have been constructed. As is being reported, security personnel and representatives from the Public Works Department were present throughout the destruction.

According to the mosque’s Imam, Mohammad Babul Hussain, the case was scheduled for hearing today, January 16, in the lower court where it was being heard, reported TwoCircles.net. Hussain claimed that despite the matter being filed before a lower court, the demolition still went ahead. Hussain further informed the media that the trust that runs the mosque has even filed an affidavit in court on January 10 following the demolition.

“We told the officials that the matter is going to the lower court but the mosque was still demolished,” Hussain was quoted in Dainik Bhaskar. 

It is pertinent to note that in August, 2022, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed a request filed to halt the scheduled destruction. After a notice regarding the same was issued to the Shahi Masjid by the Public Works Department, the locals had first approached the High Court, which in turn asked the petitioners to go to the Civil Court.  The High Court had clarified that as per government report, the masjid has been constructed by “encroaching government land.” The mosque trust has reportedly traced the building to the 16th century.

The order of the High Court can be read here.

The video can be viewed here: 

16th century Shahi Masjid was demolished by Indian authorities to widen a road in Allahabad, #UttarPradesh.

According to the Imam of the mosque, the demolition occurred just days before the lower court was set to hear the case.#India #Islamophobia pic.twitter.com/4zMtVGX5MZ

— DOAM (@doamuslims) January 16, 2023

The said video has also been shared by Ashok Swain, the former chair of International Water Cooperation at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),on his official Twitter handle.

Journalist and activist against Islamophobia CJ Werleman also shared the video, saying that the mosque has been demolished by the Hindutva regime under the pretext of widening the road.

Other instances of attack on mosques in UP

On November 17, in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, district authorities razed down a 300-year old mosque. As provided by the official involved in the razing, the 300-year-old mosque was demolished as it came in the way of 709 AD Panipat-Khatimahighway. The said demolition was deemed as a required move for the motive of road widening.

A civil court in Mathura recently ordered a survey of the 17th-century Shahi Idgah Mosque after a right-wing Hindu group claimed that the mosque was constructed on the birthplace of Lord Krishna. This came about amid the controversy surrounding the discovery of a “Shivling” inside the Gyanvapimosque in Varanasi. Mathura is located 57 kilometers north of Agra city. The Archaeological Survey of India was subsequently requested to perform a survey after January 2 by the municipal court in Mathura. After January 20, the report will be submitted to the court.

In the past month, thousands of Muslims in different Indian states have faced the possibility of being evicted from their homes due to this anti-Muslim propaganda, a report on which can be read here. 

Related: 

Spate of Demolitions continue, 44 Muslim families asked to vacate homes: Kushinagar, UP

Bulldozer injustice: this will only stop when a police officer is sent to jail, says Patna HC

‘Stop Bulldozer Raj’ Slogan Echoes at Jantar Mantar

“Bulldozer Injustice”: Time for courts to actively step in

BJP’s Bulldozer is Breaking the Law: Subhashini Ali former MP, Kanpur

SC stays Uttarakhand HC Order, residents can’t be evicted in seven days

 UP: After Gyanvapi, Mathura Court Orders Shahi IdgahSurvey; ‘Violation’ of Places of Worship Act, Say Activists

The post Anti-Muslim targeting continues in UP, another historical Mosque is demolished appeared first on SabrangIndia.