Demolition of at least 14 mosques, dargahs in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh draws Opposition criticism

The demolition of at least 14 mosques and dargahs in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh has sparked a political row, with Opposition leaders alleging selective targeting of Muslim places of worship.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said on Sunday that he had been informed by his party’s Bikaner unit that four masjids in the district, and nine mosques and dargahs in Rajasthan’s Phalodi, Jaisalmer and Barmer had also been demolished.

In Uttar Pradesh, the authorities last week demolished a mosque in Moradabad, alleging that it had been built illegally on gram sabha land. Separately, a notice was pasted on the wall of the Ganj Shahida mosque in Varanasi on June 12, alleging that it had been illegally constructed on railway land. The notice asked the mosque committee to vacate the premises by June 20, warning that the structure would be demolished, Maktoob Media reported.

Opposition leaders, including Congress’ Ashok Gehlot and Owaisi, have alleged that the demolitions disproportionately target Muslim religious sites.

Owaisi also alleged on social media that notices have been issued to hundreds of other religious sites, including the 250-year-old shrine of Hazrat Mahmood Shah Jilani in Jaisalmer.

“These demolitions are being justified on national security grounds,” the Hyderabad MP said. “However, none of the people in these areas have ever been involved in any such activities. Only Muslim places of worship are being targeted.”

He called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah to immediately stop the “discriminatory and targeted demolitions”.

Gehlot accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan of targeting “historical religious sites that are several decades old” as part of “this coercive action”.

“Despite the presence of a diverse religious population in these sensitive areas along the India-Pakistan border, there has never been any communal tension in their history,” the former chief minister said. “Places of worship of all faiths here are interconnected and enjoy deep reverence among all sections of society.”

He said that there are several mosques and shrines in the area that have been cared for and maintained by the Hindu community for years. “The vocal opposition by local Hindus to this one-sided administrative action is itself a unique example of the deep communal harmony that exists here,” he said on social media.

The demolition “while specifically targeting one religion” appeared to be motivated by the objective of “creating political polarisation and disrupting the social fabric”, Gehlot said.

Since May, at least 23 Muslim religious structures have been demolished in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, according to the Muslim Mirror.

On Saturday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs rejected comments made by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, saying that the remarks about the demolition of the Muslim religious sites in India were unwarranted.

Zardari had expressed concern about the demolitions, including that of Varanasi’s Ganj Shahida mosque, which he claimed was 1,000-year-old. He had urged India to stop the demolitions, “warning that they risk leading to the disintegration and perennial chaos” of India.

New Delhi said that Zardari had no locus standi, or a legal standing, to comment on matters that are internal to India.

The Indian ministry said that Zardari’s comments were “particularly absurd given Pakistan’s own abysmal record on human rights, which is a matter of global commentary”.

Pakistan’s “long history of systematically targeting and victimising minorities across various faiths is notorious”, the ministry spokesperson added.

The president’s remarks are a “deliberate political attack, driven by Pakistan’s national policies of bigotry and hatred”, New Delhi said.

Barmer demolition

On Thursday, a mosque in Malana village of Rajasthan’s Barmer district was bulldozed as part of a drive to remove allegedly illegal structures within a 15-km radius of India’s border with Pakistan.

During a meeting in Bikaner in May with district collectors and superintendents of police on border security, the Union home minister had directed the authorities to remove encroachments in the border areas, The Indian Express reported.

Following this, the administration in Barmer conducted a survey of the areas near the border to identify allegedly unauthorised structures.

The mosque in Malana was demolished as part of the drive, with the authorities claiming that it had been built on grazing land.

Maulvi Hasam Khan said that while the mosque had been constructed about two years ago, a madrasa had been functioning at the site since 2009, The Indian Express reported.

Khan said that the land had been classified as residential when the madrasa was built. He was quoted as having claimed that the madrasa had been issued a lease deed by the gram panchayat.

Uttar Pradesh demolition

On Wednesday, the authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad bulldozed a mosque that had been allegedly constructed illegally on land belonging to the gram sabha, PTI reported.

After verifying the land records and the ownership status, the administration found that the structure was allegedly unauthorised and initiated action following a legal process, the news agency reported.

The mosque was razed as part of a drive to remove alleged encroachments from government land.

Edited by Sara Varghese.