Raze top 3 floors of Sanjauli mosque in 2 months, Waqf told

The Municipal Commissioner’s Court here today directed the president of Muslim Welfare Committee and Himachal Pradesh Waqf Board to demolish the top three unauthorised floors of the mosque located at Sanjauli area in the state’s capital within two months.

During the hearing of the case, the Commissioner asked the Muslim Welfare Committee and Waqf Board to bear all the expenses of the demolition. The decision regarding the remaining two floors of the mosque will be taken on December 21. Bhoop Singh Thakur, the advocate who is representing the Himachal Pradesh Waqf Board in the case, told mediapersons that the court has passed orders to demolish the top three floors of the mosque.

“We had already offered to demolish the unauthorised floors of the mosque on September 12 and we have no objection with the order. We are ready to demolish the unauthorised floors,” said Muhammad Latif, president, Sanjauli Mosque Committee, after the hearing of the case.

Advocate Jagat Paul, who is representing the locals, said that the Commissioner — during the hearing — said that as per the memorandum submitted by the president of Muslim Welfare Committee, they had offered to demolish two-and-a-half floors of the mosque, after which the court ordered the demolition of three unauthorised floors.

Earlier, the Commissioner also dismissed the application of the local residents of Sanjauli, who wanted to be the third party in the case, after a detailed argument.

The case that is being heard in the Commissioner’s Court since 2010 came into focus when Hindu outfits started to raise the demand of its demolition after a fight between a local and people of a minority community in Malyana.

Hindu outfits have staged massive protests in Sanjauli and across the state through which they demanded that all the illegal mosques within the state should be razed and proper verification of unidentified migrants should be ensured.

The Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti that has been vocal against unauthorised mosques in Sanjauli has welcomed the court’s decision. However, the committee has made it clear that their movement against the illegal mosque would continue till the structure is not demolished completely.

Bharat Bhushan, convener, Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti, in a press statement issued here today alleged that the entire mosque is illegal as it has been constructed on government-owned land. Therefore, the entire structure should be razed.

“Now, we are waiting for the next hearing that is scheduled for December 21. We are hopeful that the decision regarding the demolition of the entire illegal structure will be taken during the next hearing,” he said.