Bulldozers of the Uttarakhand government razed a mazar along the highway in Rudrapur of Dehradun on Saturday, alleging it was built on public land.
The mazar was located on the premises of Doon Hospital for many decades. Officials were quoted as telling reporters that Pankaj Gupta, a Hindutva group member of Rishikesh, had made a complaint regarding the mazar to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami last year.
The Dhami government has demolished over 550 mosques, mazars and madrasas in the state since 2023.
“We are razing only those structures which are built on government lands illegally. We serve them notices and seek their reply. The final action is taken only when they fail to provide documents in support of the properties,” the chief minister said in Dehradun, adding that the drive would continue.
An attendant of the mausoleum told reporters: “The government didn’t review our documents and took decisions without considering our claim. Local municipal officers came here late at night, along with police and bulldozers. Some of our family members were sleeping inside the mausoleum. The police asked them to leave, and the bulldozers razed the building in three hours.”
Suryakant Dhasmana, vice-president of the Uttarakhand unit of the Congress, said: “We don’t have any problem with the state and the central governments taking action against illegally built mosques and mazars, but our view is clear that the government is trying to create an atmosphere against Muslims....”