The closure of a mosque on the Lucknow University campus brought Muslim students and ABVP members to the brink of a scuffle on Monday.

At the centre of the controversy is the shrine attached to the Lal Baradari, a 200-year-old monument protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Muslim students have accused the university administration of closing the gates of the mosque, where they used to offer namaz, to further their Hindutva agenda. Students affiliated to the ABVP termed it a safety measure undertaken before repairing the dilapidated shrine.

Several Muslim students said the LU authorities were trying to stop a centuries-old tradition in its bid to “saffronise the institution”.

“This followed the visit of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to the university on February 18. Bhagwat was felicitated by the university administration and he held a meeting with the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS,” said Mohammad Arman, a student of the university.

“I have been offering namaz in the masjid of Lal Baradari for two years. We also organise Roza Iftar there. We offered namaz there on Sunday afternoon, but found it locked and barricaded by the police when we reached there later in the day. When we informed the vice-chancellor, he said it was done for our safety. If it is indeed so, why didn’t they lock and repair the mosque before Ramzan?”
he said.

He said the university was being run by “Hindutva forces, who are
destroying the secular fabric of India and the country’s culture”.