Activists denounced the Indian authorities' demolition of a large part of the historic "Shahi" mosque in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, under the pretext of widening the public road.
Interactors on social media circulated in the past hours a video clip documenting the demolition of bulldozers for a large part of the mosque, considering that the matter is targeting Muslims, amid holding the Hindu Bharatiya Janata government responsible for the repeated targeting of Muslim homes and mosques.
In response, the city police said - in a statement - that the Public Works Department is conducting expansion works for the main road in the Handia area in the city of Prayagraj, and that the presence of the mosque - which was built about 5 centuries ago - in its current location hinders this expansion.
In its statement, the police confirmed that the mosque had already been demolished on January 9, after talks between officials of the Public Works Department and members of the committee representing the mosque.
demolish and justify
According to the police, the Public Works Department is conducting widening works on the main road in Handia area in Prayagraj city, and the presence of the mosque in its location hinders such expansion works.
Local media reported that the mosque, which has been standing since the 16th century, was demolished a few days before the civil court was due to hear the matter on Monday, after the Supreme Court earlier rejected a petition against the plans to demolish it.
The Uttar Pradesh government claimed that the mosque was built by encroaching on government land, while officials from the mosque said that the government's claim is false because their mosque has existed for a long time, according to media sources.
Attacks on mosques in India have escalated since the Bharatiya Janata Party took power (communication sites)
Anger and criticism
And the pioneers of social networking sites expressed their anger at the demolition, and writer Sangeeta said, "This government is amazing in destruction, and it can build nothing but hatred. They will break and destroy everything."
This Govt is amazing at destruction.
Simply stellar.
Everything that can be broken they will destroy.
Especially the human spirit.
They can build nothing but hatred.
https://t.co/bDFv0m4O8c
— Sangita (@Sanginamby) January 16, 2023
Activist Shahavaj Anjum tweeted, "From Bihar to Assam, from Bengal to Uttarakhand, in every state from Kashmir to Karnataka, the government is bulldozing Muslim homes, shops and mosques."
The interaction was not limited to Indian Muslims, as Arab and Muslim activists shared pictures and video clips documenting the demolition, expressing their grief over the situation of Muslims in India.
A historical mosque is being bulldozed in UP, India, to widen the road!
pic.twitter.com/IsUWunoIJy
- Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) January 15, 2023
Muhammad Haider said, "Muslim mosques in India are being demolished and Hindu temples are being built in Arab countries (...) Islam is not a pilgrimage, prayer, or zakat. Islam is behavior and belonging to Muslims and Islam."
Witness - Built about 5 centuries ago.. A mosque was demolished in India under the pretext of widening the public road https://t.co/xwBBQfd7HY via @ajanet_ar Muslim mosques in India are being demolished and Hindu temples are being built in Arab countries. Congratulations on your Islam, you hypocrites. Islam is neither Hajj nor prayer nor Zakat Islam is behavior and belonging to Muslims and Islam
- Mohamed Haider (@Mhm11029Mohamed) January 17, 2023
For his part, Saad Al-Madhi criticized what he called Western political hypocrisy, saying, "If this happened in China, some Western politicians and the media would call it cultural genocide, but now they do not see or hear."
Demolition of a historic mosque in India to widen the road!
If this happened in China, some Western politicians and the media would call it cultural genocide,
but now they do not see or hear.# Western_political_hypocrisy https://t.co/45utzXt4z9
- Saad Al-Madi (@SaadAlmadi) January 16, 2023
As for Abdul Halim Abbas, he called through his account to boycott Indian goods in defense of Islam and Muslims.
India _ demolishing a mosque that is more than 500 years old.
We said boycott Indian goods if we are sincere Muslims.
- Abdul Halim Abbas (@abdoalhaleem) January 17, 2023
hostility to Muslims
It is noteworthy that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known for his hostility to Muslims, especially after his orders to the police not to attack Hindus during the Gujarat massacres in February 2002.
After that, Modi was described as the "emperor of the hearts of the Hindus", and this fame helped him to prominence within the ruling party until he was nominated for his leadership in the 2014 elections.
Immediately after his accession to power, Modi unleashed the extremist Hindus to persecute Muslims and harass them in various ways.
This was evident in the killing of hundreds of Muslims on charges of eating or slaughtering cows, assaulting others on charges of forcing Hindus to convert to Islam, or luring Hindu women to marry Muslims, opposing the veil of Muslim students, banning the sale of halal meat, removing Islamic names for cities, villages and streets, and putting Hindu names instead. Of which.
These measures also include changing textbooks by removing any material that praises Muslims and introducing insulting materials to them, and amending the law to deprive millions of Muslims of Indian citizenship, as well as calls for the extermination of Muslims in the country, the demolition of their homes and shops, and the storming of their neighborhoods.