The controversy around the Sanjauli Mosque in Himachal Pradesh has taken a new direction after the All Himachal Muslim Organisation said that the mosque is legal and has existed in the area since 1915. Their statement came a few days after the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered that the lower two floors of the five-storey mosque should not be touched for now. The court, however, repeated that the top three floors must be demolished, as earlier ordered by the Shimla municipal commissioner.
Speaking to the media in Shimla, AHMO President Najakat Ali Hashmi said that the mosque is clearly mentioned in old revenue records from 1915. He accepted that some illegal construction had taken place but insisted that the mosque itself is not illegal. He said they will now approach the Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner for legal approval and for the map of the mosque’s construction. Hashmi urged people to maintain peace and said that the Muslim community will follow all rules. He added that they trust the country’s courts and will accept whatever the High Court decides on March 9, 2026.
Hashmi also claimed that some people were trying to turn the issue into a religious dispute for their own benefit. He said that a lawyer fighting the case in the High Court was doing so for personal reasons. He added that the claim that there was no construction on the land’s Khasra number was not true. He said that if anyone from the Hindu side believed a deity’s place existed there in the past, they should show proof.
Meanwhile, the Hindu Sangharsh Samiti strongly disagreed with the claims made by the Muslim organisation. Samiti leader Vijay Sharma said that the information shared in the press conference was completely false and described it as a script written by the state government and read out by Muslim leaders. He said that earlier, leaders like Imran Pratapgarhi also tried to save the same mosque but had to sit on a hunger strike. Sharma added that even though courts have ruled against the Muslim side multiple times, they continue to present wrong information.
On Wednesday, the High Court issued the status quo order after listening to all parties. It instructed the Himachal Pradesh Waqf Board to demolish the top floors before the next hearing. The Board had approached the High Court after a lower court supported the municipal commissioner’s decision, which declared the entire five-storey structure unauthorised and ordered its demolition.
During the hearing, the Waqf Board told the court that two of the top floors had already been demolished and that the third one would also be removed soon.
