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The Masjid Committee has received the order to demolish 3 floors of Sanjauli Masjid. The chairman of the committee said that the Waqf Board has been informed about this.
Ratan Gupta Language, ShimlaWed, 16 Oct 2024 12:28 PM share
Order has been issued to demolish Sanjauli Mosque of Himachal Pradesh. Regarding this matter, Sanjauli Masjid Committee Chairman Muhammad Latif said on Wednesday that the Municipal Corporation Commissioner’s order has been received to demolish three floors of the controversial mosque. Waqf Board has also been informed about this. Let us tell you that on October 5, the court of Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner had ordered the demolition of the upper three unauthorized (illegal) floors of the disputed five-storey Sanjauli Mosque. For this, Waqf Board and Mosque Committee were given two months time to implement the order.
Upper floors will be demolished as soon as permission is granted
Speaking to PTI, Latif said that we have received a copy of the Municipal Corporation Commissioner’s court order to demolish three floors of Sanjauli Masjid. We have written a letter to the Waqf Board which owns the mosque land to give further instructions. He said that the work of demolishing the upper floors will be started immediately after getting permission from the Waqf Board.
The mosque committee itself had offered to demolish two floors.
Chairman of the Mosque Committee said that we had already offered to demolish two unauthorized floors of the mosque on September 12 and after taking permission from the Waqf Board, had given a representation in this regard to the Corporation Commissioner. Let us tell you that a day before this, 10 people were injured during a demonstration demanding demolition of a part of the mosque in Sanjauli area.
Muslim community divided into two factions
The local Muslim Welfare Committee had urged the Municipal Corporation Commissioner to seal the unauthorized portion and said that they would themselves demolish the unauthorized portion. However, Muslim bodies in the state were divided into two factions over the decision of the Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner’s court. The All Himachal Muslim Organization (AHMO) had said that they would challenge the decision in the appellate authority’s court and fight it all the way to the Supreme Court.
Court order contrary to facts
Earlier, AHMO state spokesperson Nazakat Ali Hashmi had said that those who had pledged to demolish the unauthorized floors of the mosque had no right to make any such proposal. Hashmi also said that the order of the Municipal Corporation Commissioner’s court is contrary to the facts.
Hence the proposal to demolish the mosque
On the contrary, Latif had said that offering to demolish the mosque was a big decision to ensure peace and brotherhood in the state. We spoke to the Waqf Board, community leaders of the district, local shopkeepers and others and everyone was of the opinion that peace should be maintained.