The Sambhal administration on Thursday started demolishing a marriage hall in Rai Bujurg village and announced that a mosque attached to it would be brought down after four days if the occupants didn’t dislodge it themselves.
“Both the structures stand on government land earmarked for a pond. The tehsildar had served a notice to the management committee of the buildings 30 days ago but didn’t get any reply,” K.K. Bishnoi, superintendent of police of Sambhal, told reporters at the demolition site while four bulldozers razed the marriage hall. He led a police flag march in the area before the demolition started in the morning.
Government sources claimed that while it was publicly known as the Janata Marriage Hall, the members of the adjacent mosque were using it as a madrasa.
“The marriage hall is built on a 3,000sqm plot. The owners of the building didn’t reply to the notices served to them. When we started pulling down the hall, they requested us to give them four days to remove their belongings from the mosque. We’ll demolish the shrine after four days if they don’t do so themselves,” said an officer who didn’t want to be named.
“It will take three-four days to demolish the marriage hall and then we will start razing the mosque,” he added.
Apprehensive of opposition from locals, the police have stationed a large contingent at the site.
“A paramilitary force company, personnel from several police stations and drones have been deployed to keep a close watch on the area and maintain law and order,” the SP said.
Rajendra Pensiya, the district magistrate of Sambhal, said: “We have surveyed several illegal buildings in the district and gradually removed them. Thursday’s action is part of the drive. We follow court instructions and give notice to the owners of such buildings before taking action against them.”
Over a dozen buildings, including a portion of the under-construction house of local Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rahman Barq, and the Raza-e-Mustafa Masjid have been raised by the Sambhal administration in the past year.
The government has claimed to have discovered several temples that had either been encroached on or buried. Pensiya said the administration had started a survey to restore these religious structures.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has claimed that foreign invaders had destroyed 68 temples, 19 sacred wells and a Parikrama Marg in Sambhal district in the past. Some Hindutva leaders claim that the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal town was actually a temple to Lord Vishnu that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb demolished.
Indicating that his government wanted to take over the mosque, the chief minister had said a few months ago: “Today, Kashi is moving forward with its development and spirituality. A new Ayodhya is visible after the building of the Ram temple. Why can’t it happen in Sambhal if it happens in Kashi and Ayodhya?”