Lucknow: A political row has broken out in Uttar Pradesh over the demolition of a mosque located inside the Saharanpur Collectorate premises, with Opposition leaders questioning the speed of the action and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming that the structure was an illegal construction on government land that was removed on a court order.
The mosque was demolished on Saturday amid heavy police deployment, days after a district court rejected an appeal filed by the mosque management committee and upheld an earlier order declaring the structure illegal.
As per Saharanpur Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Abhishek Singh, the city magistrate’s court found that the mosque was illegally constructed on government land. The mosque committee challenged the demolition order before the district court, but its appeal was dismissed in a month-and-a half of proceedings.
ThePrint has learnt that the dispute began following a complaint last year by Bajrang Dal leader Vikas Tyagi. A case was subsequently filed before the city magistrate on 24 March 2025 under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act. After a prolonged hearing, the city magistrate on 16 July declared the mosque illegal, ordering eviction and demolition.
The mosque committee challenged the order in the district court, which dismissed the appeal on 2 September, upholding the city magistrate’s decision.
“The city magistrate’s court found that the mosque had been illegally constructed on government land. The appeal filed by the mosque committee against its demolition was also dismissed,” DIG Singh told the media on Saturday.
The mosque committee, however, had argued that the property was waqf land and claimed that the mosque was around 150 years old. The committee also cited documents dating back to 1911 in support of its claim that the mosque predated the collectorate. Authorities in the district, however, maintained that the committee could not produce sufficient evidence before the court to substantiate its claim regarding the mosque.
‘Trend of quick justice’
The demolition also sparked a political row, with Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament Iqra Hasan alleging that she was placed under house arrest at her residence in Kairana before the demolition to prevent her from travelling to Saharanpur. Hasan shared a video on X showing police personnel allegedly stopping her from leaving.
Hasan said, “These days, there is a trend of ‘quick justice’ in the state. Even a terrorist gets several opportunities, including the option to file a mercy petition. But a verdict was delivered the day before yesterday, and even a single night’s time was not given. This is a mosque that was built before 1947. The Places of Worship Act applies to it, as does the principle of waqf by user. All these provisions were ignored.”
The SP MP alleged that the religious site was demolished because it belonged to a particular community. “Since people from a particular community were affected, their place of worship was razed to the ground. This is dictatorship. We will approach the court against this,” she said while speaking to the media.
Congress MP Imran Masood, who represents Saharanpur, criticised the demolition and alleged that the administration ignored information provided by the mosque’s supporters. “Our people stayed awake throughout the night. We kept trying to remain in touch with the officials. Despite providing all the information, the mosque was demolished. In reality, it is not just the mosque that has been demolished, the Constitution has been violated.”
He claimed that the mosque existed even before 1911 and that ownership records were still in the names of Wahid and Yaqub Khan. He also alleged that the Waqf Board was neither made a party to the proceedings nor involved in the action. “The mosque was surrounded from all sides and people were confined to their homes. After that, the mosque was demolished,” Masood told ThePrint.
Masood further questioned the haste with which the action was carried out, saying that if relief was not granted by a lower court, every citizen had the right to approach a higher court. “I have repeatedly said that this mosque is part of the city’s heritage. Protecting this heritage is the responsibility of the entire society,” he said, appealing to people from all communities to protect peace and harmony.
The controversy took another turn on Sunday after a nearly 20-foot deep well was discovered during clearing work at the site a day after the demolition.
Later officials inspect the spot, while demands emerged for an archaeological examination of the well, including its soil and brickwork.
Akhilesh, Mayawati target govt
The demolition drew criticism from several Opposition leaders. Former chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the government should stop what she described as a campaign of hurriedly declaring mosques illegal and demolishing them across Uttar Pradesh.
“The government should immediately stop this and look for other ways to resolve such matters to prevent the situation from deteriorating further,” she said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to on social media platform X, posting, “Maintaining harmony is the government’s biggest responsibility and also its biggest achievement.”
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised the demolition, saying the mosque had been standing for more than a century. “Why was the mosque demolished at 5 am today? Is the constitutional right to religious freedom no longer left for Muslims?” Owaisi said on X.
He said the mosque committee had produced documents dating to 1911 to argue that the place of worship existed before the collectorate and had been used continuously for prayers for more than a century.
On the other hand, while defending the action, BJP leader Sangeet Som defended the administration’s action, saying the structure was not a mosque but an illegal building constructed on government land. “It was not a mosque, it was an illegal building. Any such structures will be demolished. This action has been taken on the orders of the court, and going forward too, all such structures will be removed in accordance with the law and court orders,” Som told the media on Sunday.
He also claimed that the well found at the site was around 400 years old and alleged that it had been encroached upon within the structure. Som accused previous governments led by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress of allowing unauthorised structures to come up on government land.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)