Delhi Development Authority has proposed the demolition of Shahi Masjid and an adjacent madrassa, causing widespread concern among the Muslim community.
According to the DDA, the Delhi government’s Religious Committee has given the go-ahead to demolish the mosque and madrasa since they are located within Central Ridge, a protected forest area where residential and commercial activity is forbidden.
Shahi Masjid is over a century old, according to the imam, the mosque committee, and members of the Muslim community. “How could it become an intrusion all of a sudden? This is our history,” 60-year-old Mohammad Younus, the mosque committee’s general secretary tells The Print.
When the 13th-century mosque Akhunji Masjid and its neighboring madrasa in Mehrauli were destroyed by bulldozers on January 30, less than a month ago, the same question was posed.
As part of an anti-encroachment campaign, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) demolished a section of a mosque in the city’s Bengali Market in April 2023. Additionally, a demolition notice has been sent to another mosque around 10 kilometers from Shahi Masjid.
Younus fears that Shahi Masjid will also be targeted by bulldozers. After the demolition notice was given the previous year, the committee made contact with the DDA.
The Delhi High Court received a plea from the committee of the Shahi Masjid, madrassa, and qabristan (graveyard), and in November 2023. The court ordered the DDA to refrain from using coercion until January 31, 2024.
The Delhi High Court sent notice to the committee on February 14 after receiving a plea from the development authority asking for the stay to be lifted. The committee has been told by the court to submit a response to the DDA’s plea within ten days.
“On what basis do you want to take action? You make a clear and cogent case. Give me the exact dimensions. What is it that you want to remove, and why,” a judge asked the DDA’s legal counsel to explain all these things when the matter is heard again on February 29.
The petitioner’s attorney argued that the mosque’s property was encroached upon.
The court also inquired as to whether the religious group may demolish an old building that has been there for the last fifty to sixty years.
The DDA said in its application that the justifications for the status quo order are untenable and causing serious prejudice to the authorities.
“The petitioner has made false and factually incorrect averments in the writ petition on the basis of which the November 2 order came to be passed,” the civic authority said.
| 
