A week ago, Thursday, September 5, 2024, Hindutva groups mobilised under Dev Bhoomi Sangharsh Committee staged massive protests at the Chaura Maidan, in Shimla and Sanjauli in Himachal Pradesh to press for demolition of the alleged illegal construction of Sanjauli mosque and the registration of outsiders coming to the State. The Committee had also given the call for the Sanjauli bandh on Wednesday (September 11, 2024).
Amid escalating tensions over the Sanjauli mosque in Shimla, the local Muslim welfare committee on Thursday (September 12, 2024) urged the municipal commissioner to seal the unauthorised portion of the mosque and also offered to “demolish it in accordance with a court order.” The committee made the request in a representation to Municipal Commissioner Bhupendra Attri and said Muslims living in the Sanjauli are permanent residents of Himachal Pradesh and it was taking the step to preserve harmony and brotherhood. Over the past fortnight, sketchy and one sided reports have appeared in commercial media. Activist Himanshu Kumar went to Shimla on a one person fact-finding to get to the bottom of the Sanjauli Mosque dispute to the country. A report
Mahatma Gandhi had said that young people should go to villages and serve there. Following this I have humbly served the tribal communities throughout my life. This time, the Tribal Coordination Forum invited me to attend the Tribal Rights Day Conference, held just outside the city of Solan in Himachal Pradesh. Representatives from five tribal groups, including the Kinnaura tribe of Himachal Pradesh, participated in the conference. Around 2,500 representatives from tribal communities across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Daman Diu, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Assam attended the event.
After the conclusion of the conference, I went to Shimla, about 50 kilometres from Solan. A movement is currently underway there, demanding the demolition of an old mosque located in the Sanjauli area. I wanted to learn the truth about the situation in Shimla. I gathered information from senior journalists, lawyers of the Himachal High Court, student leaders, and social activists. I also obtained some documents. Since only one-sided reports are being spread in the media, I felt it was necessary to bring the truth about the Sanjauli Mosque dispute to the country.
Sanjauli is an area adjacent to Shimla. It is a busy market. In 1940, land was donated (waqf) for the mosque. It is important to understand the meaning of ‘waqf’. Waqf means a charitable endowment. When a person donates their land for religious or community work, in Hinduism, it is called ‘dharma’ or ‘dan’, and in Islam, it is called ‘waqf’. Just as in Hinduism, land donated for charitable work cannot be claimed or sold by an individual, similarly, waqf land cannot be claimed or sold. In Islam, a mosque can only be built on waqf land, not on private property. The management of such Waqf land is handled by an organisation called the Waqf Board. The document for the land donation in 1940 is in Urdu and is attached. So, the mosque was built on legitimate land.
When the land for the mosque was donated in 1940, the Waqf Board law had not yet been enacted in India. In 1954, the Indian Parliament passed the Waqf Board Act. After that, all community waqf lands of the Muslim community, including mosques, rest houses, cemeteries, or madrasas, whether built or vacant, were transferred to the Waqf Board, which was a completely legal process. The 1954 government document also confirms that the land for the Sanjauli mosque is recorded in government records as mosque property and belongs to the Waqf Board.
People from distant places from the Muslim community stay at the mosque. Hence, the mosque committee built a hall above the mosque for travellers to stay. For the construction of this hall, the previous BJP government even provided 12 lakh rupees from the government treasury using taxpayer money.
Everything was fine until suddenly some people gathered and started demanding the mosque’s demolition, calling it illegal. Two stories are being told about this. The first is that a local Congress leader hired some Muslim labourers from Saharanpur but didn’t pay them fully. A dispute arose, and the Congress leader was beaten up. He then gathered a crowd and started the “remove outsiders and demolish the mosque” movement. The second story says that a Muslim barber working at a salon in Maliana was talking on his phone outside his shop. A drunk Nepali man passing by told him to speak quietly. The barber replied, “I am standing outside my shop, what’s your problem?” The Nepali man slapped him, leading to a fight. A Hindu man who intervened fell and got hurt. Though some Hindutva groups claimed it was an attack by Muslims, the injured man clarified that it was not intentional. This incident was used as a pretext by these groups to march from Maliana to Sanjauli, demanding the expulsion of Muslim outsiders and the demolition of the “illegal” mosque.
Many intellectuals in Shimla told me that rallies were held across the state, instigated by the BJP, targeting places like Kullu, Paonta Sahib, Sunni, Ghumarwin, and Palampur. During a rally in Palampur, Muslim shopkeepers were harassed, and the hooligans proudly shared videos and photos of their actions on social media. A female social worker mentioned that, on one hand, the BJP claims Kashmir is an integral part of India, while on the other, they incite attacks on Kashmiris in other Indian cities, sending a contradictory message.
Social activists and student leaders explained that just as the BJP falsely accused all Muslim traders in the town of Paprola in Uttarakhand and expelled them, similar communal tensions are being ignited in Himachal Pradesh. However, the BJP finds itself in a tricky situation with the Sanjauli mosque issue, as it had provided 12 lakh rupees for the construction of the travellers’ hall above the mosque and had also appointed an imam of its choice. As a result, the BJP is promoting its agenda through fringe Hindutva groups rather than directly involving its party.
The role of Congress leaders and the Himachal Congress government has been extremely disappointing and shameful. A Congress minister even claimed in the Assembly that outsiders like Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims had entered and were disrupting the peace, which is entirely untrue. There are no Rohingyas or Bangladeshis in Himachal, nor is there evidence of Muslims involved in crimes. A local Hindu journalist remarked, “If these Muslim outsiders are criminals, where is the FIR? Where are the statistics proving their involvement in crimes?”
Meanwhile, the Muslim community has expressed that they value communal harmony more than the mosque. If their Hindu brothers wish, they are willing to demolish the hall built over the mosque. The mosque committee and the Waqf Board have even written to the government regarding this. However, since the hall was built using government funds, the government cannot order its demolition. Shimla has 25,000 buildings, of which 8,000 are four stories high, exceeding the approved limit of two and a half stories. If the government takes action only against the hall above the mosque, it will have to apply the same rules to all buildings.
Shimla is a major apple market. Muslim traders from Saharanpur and western Uttar Pradesh come to buy apples in bulk, which they export across India and the world. But due to the recent anti-Muslim unrest, fewer Muslim traders have come this year, leading to a drop in the price of apples by 500 to 800 rupees per 20 kg box. According to reports, apple growers in Theog held a meeting with the protest leaders, complaining that their agitation was causing losses. The protest leaders responded by saying that religion is more important than apples.
This entire episode reveals that a legitimate mosque is being targeted for demolition as part of a mischievous campaign, creating communal tension across the state. The Congress government has been ineffective, and fear has spread within the Muslim community. People are asking, ‘Where are those promoting ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan’ ? Why are Muslims being forced to live in fear under your government in Himachal?
On September 16, in Shimla, the CPI(M) and other democratic organisations held a meeting and decided to hold a rally on September 27 to defeat the communal forces and maintain communal harmony in the state.
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