The Dahod Smart City administration on Saturday demolished Nagina Masjid, a century-old mosque, along with seven other places of worship as part of a road widening project under the Smart City initiative.
Despite attempts by the Masjid Trust to seek relief from the Gujarat High Court and produce land records, the mosque was razed after their efforts were unsuccessful.
The demolition operation commenced at 4.30 am amidst a large police presence.
Earlier this month, a temple dedicated to Lord Ganesh was also brought down, followed Nagina Masjid, three dargahs, four more temples and shops. A resthouse for pilgrims run by the Dawoodi Bohra community was also razed, India Today reported.
According to reports, tensions ran high in the area as the owners and caretakers of demolished properties claimed that the demolition happened on short notice.
According to officials, the mosque was demolished in a peaceful and amicable manner. A visual posted on social media show heavy police deployment during the early morning demolition.
“The Trust had sought time on its own until Friday to produce land records. The administration conceded to the request. But on Friday, the records it brought were not reliable,” Dahod Superintendent of Police Balram Meena told The Indian Express.
The Nagina Masjid Dahod Trust claimed the mosque has been in use since 1926 and was a Waqf property since 1954. It contended that while a six feet area around the mosque rented out to shopkeepers could be encroachment, there was documentary evidence of the mosque existing for almost a century.
The Trust, in its petition to the Gujarat High Court, highlighted that notices were issued to nearby shops for alleged encroachment under the Gujarat Municipalities Act.
These shops were demolished on May 15. However, the authorities proceeded to demolish additional shops belonging to the petitioner Trust without providing any prior notice.
No official notice was also issued to the Trust for the demolition of the mosque, as per the Trust, and they were only informally informed by the authorities that “petitioner and others may remove all the religious books, Quran and other revered articles from the Masjid till Friday 19/05/2023 since after Friday evening prayers the Masjid will be demolished”.
