The demolition of the historic mosque was accompanied by the destruction of an old religious school attached (Al Jazeera)
New Delhi -
The government's Delhi Development Authority demolished an ancient mosque and a religious school attached to it, and about a hundred Muslim graves, including "shrines of saints", in the Mehrauli area of south Delhi, before the dawn call to prayer last Tuesday.
The imam of the mosque was surprised by the demolition order, after cordoning off the area, seizing the phones of the people in it and in the school affiliated with it, and forcefully expelling them from the area.
The authorities did not allow the imam, the school’s students, and its teachers to take their belongings, including hundreds of copies of the Holy Quran, religious books, money, and food, all of which were destroyed under the blows of the machinery. Rather, they immediately moved the rubble to another place, and brought dirt to level the place, to give it a new appearance.
Although a petition against the demolition was filed with the Delhi High Court, no notification or warning of the demolition reached the mosque or school committee.
The Delhi Waqf Board, which is also a government body, says that these lands, including the mosque, school and graves, are all endowment lands for Muslims, and government departments may not exercise control over them.
The mosque and school committee went to the Supreme Court the next day, aggrieved by the arbitrary action of the Delhi Development Authority. The court set February 12 to hear the case, with an order being issued to the Delhi Development Authority not to dispose of or make any change in the lands of the mosque, the school and the graves.
The demolition affected dozens of Muslim graves in the mosque courtyard (Al Jazeera)
Ancient mosques and endowments
The demolished mosque was named "Akhund Ji Mosque" or "Jinn Mosque", and it is said that it dates back to the era of the founder of the Delhi Sultanate, King Iltutmish, who died in the year 1236. The religious school attached to the mosque is also historic, and as for the graves, they are about 4 centuries old, and contain the graves of some saints. These monuments are protected not only because they are endowment lands, but also because they are historical monuments, and they may not be demolished according to Indian law.
The demolition of the mosque and school coincided with the demolition of several other shrines across Delhi. Hindus also attacked an Islamic cemetery in the Mohan Garden area of the city on the same night, damaging several graves.
Last month, the issue of the “Sunhri Mosque” (the Golden Mosque) in Delhi was raised, which dates back to the Mughal era, and the British kept it when they built the new city of Delhi, known as “New Delhi,” because of its historical importance and because it was a “living mosque.” That is, it was used and not abandoned.
The municipality claimed that the mosque obstructed traffic in the area, so it sought to demolish it under the pretext of widening the street, even though an official committee had previously ruled that this mosque did not constitute an obstacle, but the demolition order was stopped after people revolted and went to the Supreme Court.
As previously, an ancient mosque called “Shahi Mosque” (Royal Mosque) was demolished in the city of Allahabad (Prayag Raj) on January 9, 2023, under the pretext of widening the public road.
Frequent accidents
The latest incident is not the first of its kind. Rather, the demolition of mosques, shrines, graves, and hospice of saints has become a common occurrence across India, especially in states ruled by the Indian People’s Party, such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Khand, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh.
In the state of Assam, many mosques and dozens of Islamic schools were demolished, and more than 350 graves and shrines were demolished in the northern state of Uttarkhand during the past two years, in addition to an attempt to expel Muslims from the state, under the pretext that it is the abode of the Hindu gods and no one else may live there.
For several years, the Indian authorities have extensively used heavy machinery (bulldozers) to carry out demolition operations in states governed by the Indian People's Party, especially after Hindu demonstrations and then claims that Muslims threw stones at them.
This charge is sufficient to demolish the homes of the accused using bulldozers, which arrive at the site within hours, or at most the day following the demonstration, before a judicial ruling is issued.
An entire neighborhood of Muslim fishermen was previously demolished in “Dwarka House” on the coast of Gujarat state in October 2022. The demolition process affected hundreds of homes, shops, mosques, graves, and shrines, but a Hindu temple standing alone on the coast was preserved.
International demands
With the expansion of the demolition policy, 3 United Nations rapporteurs drew the attention of the Indian government in June 2022, that demolishing Muslim homes with machinery, in states governed by the Indian People’s Party, amounts to a policy of “collective punishment of Muslims,” and they demanded that the Indian government stop this practice. This is an unfair policy.
But this warning did not deter the Indian authorities, especially in the capital, Delhi, which has witnessed dozens of such incidents over the past few years.
These incidents occur under the pretext of beautifying the area, widening the streets, or demolishing unlicensed buildings, while not attacking the thousands of illegal Hindu temples, which are spread everywhere in the capital and outside it, including public parks and on the edges of the Yamuna River that passes through the city, and in which no one is allowed. By building in it or even near it.
Source: Al Jazeera