The city management officials of Shimla, on Saturday ordered the demolition of three floors of Sanjaulii mosque within two months amid tensions between two communities in the area.
The ruling issued by the municipal commissioner Court ordered the demolition of the second, third and fourth floors following a petition filed by the mosque committee which reportedly proposed the demolition to the commissioner of Municipal Corporation .
The ruling also declared that the Waqf Board is to bear the expenses of the demolition. B.S Thakur the lawyer representing the Waqf Board and the masjid committee said, “The committee had requested the demolition of the three floors of the mosque at the court and issued orders following their request. Within 2 months the Waqf Board and mosque committee should demolish at their own expense.”
The dispute started when a Hindu businessman was allegedly assaulted by 6 individuals in Malyana near Sanjauli. A complaint was filed by the injured victim who alleged that the attackers took him to a nearby mosque. Soon after protests were organized by many Hindu organizations demanding the demolition of an unauthorized place in the mosque claiming that it was an illegal structure.
The first issued notice was in 2011 when local residents had demanded the demolition of an unauthorized portion or the mosque. Many alleged that the Waqf Board failed to provide documentation of the mosque and expanded it into a 5 storey building by 2018.
Recent protests against the mosque during the already ongoing controversy demanded the demolition of Sanjauli and other alleged illegal mosques across the state. Rural development Minister Anirudh Singh also supported the demolition when the controversy reached him.
A decision about the remaining structure will be taken in the upcoming hearing. The next hearing is said to be on December 21.
