Saharanpur/Lucknow (UP), Sep 7 (PTI) Leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress on Monday lodged a strong protest against the demolition of a mosque located on the Saharanpur Collectorate premises by authorities, amid claims of detention and “house arrest” by the Uttar Police.
The mosque, which was declared illegal by the Saharanpur city magistrate, was demolished on September 5 by authorities, drawing flak from opposition parties A Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation, which included Lal Bihari Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in the UP Legislative Council, and party MPs like Iqra Hasan, submitted a memorandum to an Additional Divisional Commissioner in Saharanpur.
The Lok Sabha MP from Muzaffarnagar, Harendra Malik, who was also part of the delegation, claimed that SP leaders had been kept in “house arrest” to prevent them from reaching Saharanpur.
In Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee said its president Ajay Rai and other party members were detained when they set out from the state party headquarters this afternoon to meet with mosque committee members and affected individuals regarding the demolition of the mosque.
“Upon leaving the headquarters, he (Rai) was stopped by a heavy police deployment at the Mall Avenue intersection. Congress members present there protested against this police action. Insisting on proceeding to Saharanpur, the state Congress president sat on the road at the intersection, where hundreds of Congress workers gathered.
“Subsequently, a large police force arrested Ajay Rai along with hundreds of Congress workers, detained them in buses, and took them to the Police Lines, from where they were released after some time,” the UP Congress said in a statement.
In a post on X in Hindi, Harendra Malik said, “Today, as per the instructions of the national president Akhilesh Yadav ji, a memorandum was submitted to the Additional Commissioner regarding the matter of the demolition of a 119-year-old mosque in Saharanpur.” “The entire matter should follow the judicial process, and action in accordance with the Constitution should be ensured. At the same time, I appeal to maintain brotherhood, harmony, and peace in society,” he said.
Later, speaking to PTI from Saharanpur, Malik claimed that SP leaders, including himself, were placed under house arrest.
“More than 20 policemen were placed at my house since yesterday morning. Somehow, I managed to reach (Saharanpur). Almost all the SP leaders were placed under house arrest…We were only going to submit a memorandum. The situation is worse than the Emergency,” Malik alleged.
Speaking to reporters at the Circuit House, Lok Sabha MP from Kairana Iqra Hasan said that preventing elected representatives from raising public issues and meeting officials goes against the democratic system.
Rai alleged that the Yogi Adityanath government has completely failed to meet public aspirations and is, therefore, fearful. He said that the government can block their path, but it cannot silence their voice, and reiterated that the Congress party would continue to fight for the victims.
In a post on X in Hindi, Rai said, “The Uttar Pradesh Police, at the behest of the BJP government, has adopted a completely dictatorial attitude to stop me and our workers from meeting the victims of the incident of the demolition of the mosque located in the Saharanpur Collectorate complex and the members of the mosque committee. At the direct behest of the BJP government, the police have used force and arrested all of us.” Vikas Tyagi, a former Bajrang Dal convenor and the complainant in the mosque matter, had claimed that a temple might have existed at the site before the mosque was built.
In 2025, Tyagi filed a petition in the city magistrate’s court, alleging that the structure within the collectorate premises was illegal.
Subsequently, the Saharanpur city magistrate declared the structure illegal and ordered its demolition. The mosque management committee appealed the order in the district court, which rejected its appeal on September 2. PTI COR NAV RT RT
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