The mosque was demolished Tuesday in a forest in Mehrauli, an affluent neighborhood dotted with centuries-old ruins of settlements that predated modern Delhi. A member of the mosque's management committee said that the mosque did not receive any prior notice before the demolition was carried out "in the dark of the night" The demolition comes at a sensitive time in India, with Hindu nationalist activists growing more emboldened in their long campaign to replace several prominent mosques with new Hindu temples.
Since Modi took office in 2014, India has witnessed numerous outbreaks of violence between the Hindu majority and the 200 million Muslim minority.