Anurag Thakur demands probe into Mosque construction, citing demographic concerns

After protests broke out over the alleged illegal construction of a mosque in Sanjauli, BJP MP Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday that there is a need to go into the depth of this issue and find the reasons behind it so that such incidents are prevented in future.

Emphasising the need for investigation, Thakur said that it is necessary to find how it is affecting on demography of the region.

"We need to go into the depth of this issue to find the reasons behind it and how it is affecting local demography. There are serious reasons behind the anger in people there. Such incidents have frequently occurred in last some years. The need to go in depth to find the reasons is to prevent such incidents in future," said BJP MP Anurag Thakur.

Leader of Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jairam Thakur slammed the Sukhu government saying that the state was delaying action against the alleged illegal construction.

"Himachal Pradesh is a peaceful state. There have hardly been any community conflicts here. But, now the situation that has emerged, the government should have taken active measures against it, and people are agitated because of the delay. The sentiments of the Hindus and the local people must be respected... Imposing BNSS 163 is an attempt to suppress the voice of the people... There should be peaceful protests within the limits of the law. I urge the government that if it is an unauthorised construction, then this problem should be solved soon," Jairam Thakur said.

On Tuesday, Jairam Thakur hit out at the Congress government and said that since this government has come into power, they haven't initiated the process of identity registration and verification of street vendors. Thakur said that the due process has filled the streets with unknown people whose backgrounds are unavailable.

Earlier on Wednesday, as the protest over the alleged illegal construction of a mosque in the Sanjauli area intensified, police personnel on Wednesday used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge to disperse protestors heading towards the Sanjauli area of Shimla. Protestors removed the first layer of barricading and clashed with the security forces while entering the Dhalli Tunnel East portal during their protest march. The protests have been called by Hindu organisations over the alleged illegal construction of Sanjauli mosque.