India: Century-old mosque razed in defiance of court order

Officials in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh have allegedly bulldozed an old mosque, triggering anger and anguish among the Muslim minority, with a prominent community organisation saying it will approach the high court over the matter. The Ghareeb Nawaz Al Maroof Mosque, which residents in the state’s Barabanki district said was nearly 100 years […]

Officials in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh have allegedly bulldozed an old mosque, triggering anger and anguish among the Muslim minority, with a prominent community organisation saying it will approach the high court over the matter.

The Ghareeb Nawaz Al Maroof Mosque, which residents in the state’s Barabanki district said was nearly 100 years old, was demolished on Monday evening by the local administration after hundreds of policemen surrounded the area and halted the movement of people to prevent any protest.

Since 2017, Uttar Pradesh – India’s most populous state with nearly 220 million residents, almost one-fifth of them Muslim – is governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with a controversial saffron-robed monk Yogi Adityanath, known for his anti-Muslim hate speech, as the state’s chief minister.

On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, a Muslim body that looks after mosques and other community assets in the state, condemned the demolition and said it was done in defiance of a court order to halt demolitions of alleged “illegal structures” until May 31 in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the board termed the act an “illegal and high-handed action of the administration” and said it will seek judicial remedy.

“This act is against the law, misuse of power and utter violation of clear orders passed by the high court. We will immediately approach the high court demanding restoration of the mosque, high-level judicial inquiry and action against the guilty officers,” the board’s chairman Zufar Ahmad Faruqi said.

In another statement, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani, general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said the demolition was undertaken “without any legal justification”.