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Authorities in Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Saharanpur district, in the early hours of Saturday morning, demolished a pre-independence-era mosque situated within the collectorate office grounds after a local court ruled the Islamic religious structure was an illegal encroachment on government land. A heavy police force, including five companies of armed constabulary and anti-riot central police, was deployed across the district headquarters to maintain law and order during the early morning operation.<\/p>\n
The hasty demolition of the mosque \u2013 claimed by its caretakers to be around 115 years old \u2013 using bulldozers, just three days after a district court ruling, while preventing opposition party elected representatives from going to the site, has triggered a political stir.<\/p>\n
The political opposition was unanimous in condemning the government\u2019s act, calling it illegal and unwarranted. They accused chief minister Adityanath\u2019s government and his administration of targeting the Muslim community\u2019s religious places to communalise the state ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.<\/p>\n
Officials carried out the demolition on September 5 following a verdict of the district court, which had on September 2 dismissed an appeal filed by the mosque\u2019s management committee against a city magistrate court that had in July ordered for its eviction. The magistrate court had also imposed a heavy penalty of Rs 6.41 crore on the \u201cillegal occupants\u201d of the 315 square-metre plot of government land for their \u201cunauthorised occupation.\u201d The mosque was issued a 30-day notice to vacate the site.<\/p>\n
Sub-divisional magistrate Saharanpur Subodh Kumar said the operation to demolish the mosque started at 7 am, even as Opposition leaders alleged that the process started much earlier, at 5 am, in the cover of darkness. Kumar, told a news agency that the legal proceedings for the recovery of the penalty imposed by the court were underway.<\/p>\n
A post office operating on the premises \u2013 it was paying rent regularly \u2013 was also removed and things shifted elsewhere, he added.<\/p>\n
In a 26-page judgment \u2013 a copy of which has been reviewed by The Wire \u2013 district judge Satendra Kumar affirmed the eviction order issued by the city magistrate\u2019s court under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972 on July 16. The court said that the mosque had failed to produce evidence regarding ownership and lawful possession of the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a due examination of the evidence available on record and the legal principles discussed above, this court concludes that the appellant has failed to substantiate \u2013 through cogent evidence \u2013 the grounds raised in the appeal and the facts regarding his ownership and lawful possession of the property in question,\u201d the judgment concluded.<\/p>\n
Saharanpur DM files suit for state after Bajrang Dal complaint<\/p>\n
The mosque first came under the radar of the officials after Bajrang Dal activist Vikas Tyagi filed a complaint against it in 2025, following which the revenue department carried out an inquiry and the state through the Saharanpur DM filed a suit.<\/p>\n
According to the state\u2019s arguments, the property \u2013 part of Khasra no. 539 in village Pathanpura \u2013 was, as per revenue records, classified as government land, housing the local court and collectorate complex. The state said that the space had originally been constructed as a public rest house or vishram grah for litigants and that it was illegally converted into a religious structure over time.<\/p>\n
The state alleged that the caretakers of the mosque rented out the upper and ground-floor rooms to \u201cunauthorised occupants\u201d and illegally collected rent from a sub-post office operating on the premises.<\/p>\n
However, Mohammad Tanveer Ahmed, the mutawalli or caretaker of the mosque, argued that the structure was over 115 years old and had been established prior to 1911, adding that it was protected under the Places of Worship Act, 1991.<\/p>\n
Ahmed further submitted in the appeal that the land was recorded as zamindari land (in the record of rights or Khewat) and not state-owned public property. The land in question, with an area of more than 28 bighas, did not constitute public property under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.<\/p>\n
The structure was registered as Waqf No. 451 and recognised in municipal records since 1957, he said. The Union government had also executed a lease deed for the sub-post office and paid rent to the mosque since 1960, the committee submitted.<\/p>\n
The mosque also submitted that despite being recorded in Municipal Corporation records since 1957, and registered as Waqf, and also listed on the \u2018Umeed\u2019 portal, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board was not impleaded as a necessary party. Due to this, the suit filed by the Saharanpur administration was barred under Section 85 of the Waqf Act.<\/p>\n
Judge Kumar ruled that the July 16 decision and order passed by the lower court were \u201cconsistent with the evidence on record\u201d, adding that no legal or factual error was apparent in it. The judge said that the civil appeal by the mosque was devoid of merit and affirmed the lower court\u2019s order.<\/p>\n
In the suit, the district administration said that it conducted an inquiry and found that no authorisation or permit was found with the opposing parties regarding their own residence on the government premises, the housing of outsiders, or the conversion of the government building into a religious structure.<\/p>\n
Key people confined to homes as mosque demolished<\/p>\n
Iqra Hasan, Samajwadi Party MP from Kairana, which includes parts of Saharanpur district, alleged that Uttar Pradesh Police put her under house arrest and did not let her visit Saharanpur while the demolition was going on. She said that after the order from the lower civil court arrived, the entire mosque was sealed off, and barricades were erected in the vicinity.<\/p>\n
She said people wanted to speak to the officials to request some time regarding the matter. \u201cPeople wanted to approach the High Court, but because no time was granted, we, all the prominent figures of Saharanpur district, were confined to our homes, and then, early in the morning, the mosque was demolished; this is truly shameful. This is such a grave sin that they will certainly face retribution for it; there is no escaping this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hasan said they would take the matter to court. \u201cBut the manner in which this action was executed demonstrates how democracy has been murdered. \u2018Quick justice\u2019 is being adopted as the standard approach. If every decision is to be made solely based on government orders, then there is no need for a legal system\u2026 this incident is utterly condemnable,\u201d she told ANI.<\/p>\n
While talking to ANI, DIG Saharanpur Abhishek Singh, on being asked about the house arrest, said that police had taken \u201call preventive steps from the point of view of law and order\u201d. \u201cAction is being taken while complying with all legal procedures, he said.<\/p>\n
Legal validity, government intent, questioned by opposition<\/p>\n
Asaduddin Owaisi asked if the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion no longer applied to Muslims. \u201cWhy is it that our places of worship are constantly bulldozed on flimsy grounds,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n
Owaisi stated that the mosque committee produced records going back to 1911 to establish its existence and that prayers had been offered there continuously for more than a century. \u201cThis is the very definition of waqf by user, which is still protected as waqf under law,\u201d he said, adding that the Limitation Act, 1963, does not ordinarily allow the government an unlimited period \u2013 it cannot wake up one fine morning and assert possession over immovable property.<\/p>\n
Also read: In the Name of the Rule of Law: A Closer Look at India\u2019s Bulldozer Actions<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was more than a century of open, continuous and public possession? The State cannot pretend that this possession began yesterday, hence the principle of adverse possession would apply even if we concede to the state\u2019s arguments. The mosque came first, the collectorate later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accused the Adityanath government of using a \u201ccommunal\u201d issue to distract people from the theft of donations in the Ram Mandir. Yadav alleged that Saharanpur officials acted at the behest of the state government to prevent the caretakers of the mosque from appealing against the local court\u2019s order in the higher judiciary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who do not respect other religions can never be Sanatanis. Those who trifle with the faith of others can never be Sanatanis. A true Hindu can never insult another; this is what we have learned in \u2018Sanatan Dharma\u2019. True Sanatanis are people who cherish harmony; harmony should be the government\u2019s highest priority,\u201d said Yadav, while talking to reporters.<\/p>\n
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said the ongoing trend in Uttar Pradesh, of declaring mosques illegal and proceeding to demolish them in great haste was not right. \u201cThe government should immediately halt this and certainly adopt other measures to resolve the issue in order to avoid such negative situations,\u201d she said on X.<\/p>\n
Congress MP from Saharanpur Imran Masood said the demolition was a violation of the Constitution, adding that the mosque was registered with the Waqf Board but it was not made a party in the case. \u201cYou cannot prove that the land belongs to you. Based on the Khasra records, you have claimed that this is government collectorate land. But even today, the collectorate land is recorded in the names of Waheed Khan and Yakub Khan, within whose zamindari the mosque was built. It is still registered in their names,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh also said that the land Khasra number 539 was registered in the name of Yaqub Khan Wahid Khan; the site includes a temple, a mosque and the collectorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mosque was built before 1947 and is registered with the Waqf Board. The mosque was demolished following an ex-parte decision, without making the Waqf Board a party to the proceedings; observe the game being played to spread hatred in UP ahead of the elections. Statutory Warning: Beware of BJP rioters,\u201d he said on X.<\/p>\n
Rajiv Gumbar, BJP MLA from Saharanpur City, defended the demolition, saying that law was taking its own course. He said that the matter had been examined by both the city magistrate and the district court.<\/p>\n
SDM Subodh Kumar said that the mosque was served proper notice and the stipulated notice period was adhered to before carrying out the eviction.<\/p>\n
Source: The Wire, India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Saharanpur district, in the early hours of Saturday morning, demolished a pre-independence-era mosque situated within the collectorate office grounds after a local court ruled the Islamic religious structure was an illegal encroachment on government land. A heavy police force, including five companies of armed constabulary and anti-riot central police, was …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":209985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"yoast_head":"\n