Row over UP mosque demolition as Muslims say it was Waqf property, govt calls it illegal

While the Barabanki administration justified the action, Sunni Waqf Board and All-India Muslim Law Board have demanded a judicial probe into the matter.

An old photo of the Barabanki mosque that was demolished on Monday | Photo by special arrangement

Barabanki: The Barabanki administration has razed an old mosque in the town, claiming it to be an “illegal” construction, even as Muslim bodies have said the action is “against the law” since the structure was an Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board property.

The waqf board and the All-India Muslim Law Board have demanded a judicial probe into the matter.

The waqf board said the action was “misuse of power in the name of anti-encroachment drive”, while the Muslim law board sought suspension of officials responsible for it.

The administration has, however, justified the demolition, with District Magistrate Adarsha Singh claiming the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court had disposed of a petition in this connection on 2 April, proving the construction was illegal.

The single-storey building with white walls and green doors had stood as a mosque for long near Barabanki’s Ram Sanehi Ghat, located nearly 75 km away from state capital Lucknow on the Barabanki-Ayodhya road. Most of the local residents ThePrint spoke to said they had seen the mosque “since childhood”.

Spread over an area of around 2,000 square feet, the structure, along with the well in front of it, was razed Monday evening.

The Sunni Central Waqf Board also demanded restoration of the mosque, and said it would go to court against the action.

The opposition Samajwadi Party has, meanwhile, formed a nine-member committee that will go to Barabanki and submit a report to party president Akhilesh Yadav. In a statement, it said Akhilesh had condemned the demolition and accused the BJP government of “disturbing the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb” of UP.

The plot where the Barabanki mosque stood near Ram Sanehi Ghat. The structure was demolished on Monday | Photo: Prashant Srivastava/ThePrint

‘Can’t demolish Waqf properties’

Mohammad Anees, a member of a committee that looked after the mosque, told ThePrint: “The mosque was registered under Sunni Waqf Board properties in 1968, by the name of Ram Sanehi Ghat Tehsil Wali Masjid. Its registration number is 198. They can’t demolish Waqf properties, but the mosque was razed on Monday in the name of ‘anti-encroachment drive’.”

He added: “They barricaded the whole campus and demolished the mosque.”

Anees said his family members and other people in the area regularly went to the mosque to say their prayers.

Speaking to ThePrint, Barabanki resident and Samajwadi Party leader Adnan Hussain also said this mosque was registered under the Sunni Waqf Board properties.

“The demolition is totally illegal, it’s a misuse of power. It’s a century-old mosque, we all went there for prayers. Everyone in Sanehi Ghat area or even from the (Barabanki) town have known about this mosque since childhood.”

DM Singh had also said a case in this regard was registered in the court of Sub-Divisional Magistrate Divyanshu Patel and its orders were complied with on 17 May.

Hussain, however, pointed out: “A tribunal court first hears waqf board property cases, not magistrate court, but the administration showed it as an ‘illegal construction on government property’, and sent a notice. They didn’t call it a mosque.”

Some local residents said it was the result of an “old tussle” between the sub-divisional magistrate’s office and the mosque administration.

The SDM’s office is located opposite to the plot where the mosque stood until Monday.

In March this year, there was reportedly a clash between local residents and the police over an issue surrounding the same religious structure. It was reported that police had to resort to lathicharge after they were pelted with stones.

ThePrint visited SDM Patel’s office for a comment on this but he was not available to speak. Calls and text messages also did not elicit any response.

He had, however, told ThePrint over the phone Tuesday that the structure was illegal.

“That property was illegal, that is why action has been taken. More details can only be shared by the DM and the SSP of the district,” he said.

In a statement, DM Adarsha Singh said: “A notice was served on people concerned on March 15, giving them an opportunity to put forth their views over the ownership but those residing there fled after receiving the notice.”

The tehsil administration got possession of the property on 18 March, he said.

Read: How Sunni Waqf Board ‘gave up claim’ on Ayodhya land on last day of Supreme Court hearing

Muslim bodies demand judicial probe  

The Sunni Waqf Board has said it will go to court against the action.

In a statement Tuesday, board chairman Zufar Ahmad Faruqi said: “I strongly condemn the illegal and high-handed action of the tehsil & district administration…by which they have demolished a 100 years old mosque.”

Demanding its restoration, he said the act was “a misuse of power”, and in “violation of the HC orders dated 24 April”.

He was referring to an order passed by a division bench of the Allahabad HC on 24 April, barring demolitions and other action in the state until May-end in view of the Covid situation.

The board also said it will immediately approach the HC to demand restoration of the mosque, a high-level judicial inquiry and action against guilty officials.

The All-India Muslim Law Board has also demanded a judicial probe into the matter by a sitting high court judge, and also suspension of officials responsible for the action, PTI reported.

“The century-old Garib Nawaz mosque in Ram Sanehi Ghat tehsil was demolished by the administration without any legal justification on Monday night in the presence of police,” All-India Muslim Law Board (AIMPLB) working general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani claimed in a statement.