Authorities in India partially demolish 185-year-old mosque

ANKARA

Authorities in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh demolished part of a 185-year-old mosque on Tuesday, citing “encroachment.”

“Only a portion of the mosque has been demolished,” Avinash Tripathi, a senior civil official in Fatehpur district, told reporters, adding it was done to start work on “strengthening the road and constructing drains.”

Authorities sent a notice in August to 139 people, including the mosque committee, to remove the “encroachment.”

Mohammad Moin Khan, a mosque committee member, said they filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court against demolishing any part of the mosque, and the plea was set to be heard this week.

"The mosque was built in 1839, and the road here was constructed in 1956, yet the Public Works Department is calling some parts of the mosque illegal," Khan was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

Tripathi, however, reportedly said: "The structure which has been demolished today, was built in the last three years."

The demolition has come amid a surge in demands by Hindu groups based on surveys claiming prominent mosques were built on the former site of temples in the recent past.

A local court in India recently accepted a petition to survey a famous 13th-century shrine of a Muslim saint in Ajmer city in western Rajasthan state.

Earlier, a local court ordered a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in the town of Sambhal in northern Uttar Pradesh in response to a petition claiming that a temple stood on the mosque's site. While the survey was underway, it triggered clashes in the area which claimed the lives of at least five people and injured several police officers.

The country’s top court, however, halted the local court’s proceedings in the matter.

Recently, a Hindu group demanded a survey of India’s iconic Jama Masjid, the main mosque in the capital New Delhi, alleging that statues of Hindu deities were buried within the mosque.

Meanwhile, the Indian Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of reports on the controversial statements made by a judge during an event that was organized by a right-wing Hindu organization.

The judge had said that India would function only according to the “wishes of the majority,” triggering a massive controversy in the country.