Unrest over ‘illegal’ mosque spreads, protests held across state

The unrest caused by the “illegal” construction of a mosque in Sanjauli in Shimla district has spread to some other parts of the state. Today, protesters held rallies at Sunni in Shimla district, Kullu, Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district and Ghumarwin in Bilaspur district.

Besides, markets at different places remained largely closed for two hours in the morning on a call given by the Himachal Pradesh Beopar Mandal to show solidarity with the protesters and the issues raised by them. However, unlike Sanjauli and Mandi, the protests were generally peaceful, and the police didn’t have to resort to the use of force to control the protesters.

Ajit Bhardwaj, Additional District Magistrate, Shimla, said that the protest in Sunni was totally peaceful. “The protesters took out a rally and then handed over a memorandum to the administration. No untoward incident happened during the protest,” he added.

Bhardwaj said, “Local residents demanded strict verification of the migrants and those who rent properties to migrants should ensure their proper identification,” he added. The verification of migrants was the major demand of the protesters in Kullu, Ghumarwin and Paonta Sahib. In Kullu, the protesters claimed that a masjid had been built on the land of the Khadi Board and the authorities concerned should look into it. Their other demand was to not allow street vendors to sell their products by going from home to home, as it was affecting the business of the shopkeepers, who pay the GST on every item they sell.

In Shimla, tension reduced significantly after the Muslim community offered to demolish the illegal portion of the controversial mosque. The Municipal Corporation is likely to seal the illegal portion of the mosque shortly, and pronounce the much-delayed judgment over the contentious structure.