Authorities in Uttar Pradesh demolished a mosque inside the Saharanpur district magistrate’s office complex on Saturday, days after a court upheld an order declaring the structure illegal, local media reported.
Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hasan said police had confined her to her home in Kairana and prevented her from travelling to Saharanpur, where she wanted to meet officials over the mosque’s demolition, news agency ANI reported.
The action came after a complaint from a former Bajrang Dal office bearer, who alleged that the mosque had been built illegally within the district magistrate’s office premises, a sensitive government facility where administrative and confidential work is carried out, The Times of India reported.
The Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad are among Hindu nationalist organisations associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
A city magistrate’s court on July 17 ordered the structure to be demolished and imposed compensation of about 641 million rupees ($7.3 million) on its occupants, citing alleged encroachment and unauthorised occupation of government land.
The order was challenged in the district judge’s court, which dismissed the challenge and upheld the demolition order on Friday.
Hasan said on Saturday that the mosque had been sealed and the area around it barricaded following the lower court’s ruling.
“People wanted to speak to the officials to request some time regarding the matter. People wanted to approach the High Court,” she said, according to ANI.
Hasan said a sizeable police contingent had been stationed outside her residence overnight. She said she had intended to travel to Saharanpur to meet government officials regarding the issue.
“In a democracy, public representatives are elected to raise the voice of the people,” ANI quoted her as saying. “That voice cannot be suppressed by stopping me.”
Calling the demolition “shameful”, Hasan criticised the manner in which the authorities carried out the action, saying it demonstrated how “democracy has been murdered”.
“Quick justice is being adopted as the standard approach,” ANI quoted her as saying.
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