Bulldozer Fear Mounts at Mosques, Madrasas Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Election

Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh have expressed serious concern that administrative scrutiny and pressure on mosques and other structures associated with the Muslim community may increase further ahead of the upcoming Assembly election. They allege that the state government may take such measures with the aim of creating religious polarisation during the election.

The concerns arose after the recent demolition of a nearly 100-year-old mosque inside the Saharanpur Collectorate complex and the serving of a notice to the management committee of Moradabad’s Mustafa Mosque over alleged “illegal construction.”

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari alleged that in the coming months, the BJP government could intensify action against such structures under the pretext of “eviction drives” or removing “illegal encroachments.”

He said, “Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls within the next five months. And ahead of this election, the BJP government is planning to intensify attacks on such structures and establishments under the pretext of removing illegal encroachments.”

Ansari further claimed that the measures were being taken to divide society for political gains in the election. He urged the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court to take the matter into consideration.

Meanwhile, Congress national secretary Shahnawaz Alam accused the state government of attempting to create a form of “everyday communalism” through the practice of issuing such notices.

He argued that many religious places of worship were built more than 100 years ago, at a time when modern urban development or construction regulations were not in place in Uttar Pradesh.

Shahnawaz Alam said, “If judged according to the framework of current regulations, many religious structures belonging to other communities would also fail to meet the requirements. But unfortunately, structures associated with the Muslim community are being selectively targeted.”

SP MP Questions Government’s Priorities

Sambhal SP MP Ziaur Rahman Barq strongly criticised the Uttar Pradesh government, saying that the state government was now pursuing a “one-point agenda” centred on mosques, madrasas and graveyards.

Strongly condemning the Saharanpur incident, he said the Uttar Pradesh government was completely ignoring issues of public importance, including rising prices, unemployment, education and healthcare, and was instead busy targeting Muslims.

He claimed that the demolished mosque in Saharanpur was 119 years old and had valid documents. He also strongly protested the administrative notices issued in Sambhal and Moradabad.

Legal Battle over Saharanpur Mosque

The demolition of the Saharanpur mosque has now led to a legal battle in the Allahabad High Court. The mosque management committee has challenged the administrative action, alleging that the mosque was demolished abruptly without any statutory notice or formal order.

The committee has also raised before the court the alleged violation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

However, the administration maintains that the action was carried out as part of a completely legal process. According to the officials concerned, the district court had earlier upheld the finding that the mosque was unauthorised and that it stood on government land, and had dismissed the appeal against the order.

Meanwhile, an old brick-lined well, around 20 feet deep, was discovered beneath the mosque while the debris was being cleared. Subsequently, a team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) collected samples from the site. The well was reported to be around 20 feet deep, and ASI officials inspected it following its discovery.