By Manish Sahu
A Revenue Department court has ordered to remove “encroachments” from government land that has been allegedly occupied illegally to build a mosque in Bindki tehsil of Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district.
The tehsildar’s court issued the order while hearing a petition against the alleged encroachments at Malwan village.
Members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal have been raising the issue, demanding to demolish the mosque built on government land. In July, they had even organised a Hindu panchayat over the issue.
An office-bearer of the Sunni Madina Masjid Committee, which manages the mosque, said they would decide whether to file an appeal against the order or not after holding consultations with their senior members.
“The mosque was built in the 1970s on the land allotted by the gram sabha and a fee was deposited at that time. Since then, regular renovations have been carried out but no new construction has taken place. False allegations are being made that we are extending the mosque by acquiring nearby areas. The district administration had previously conducted a survey following a complaint and confirmed that the land was indeed allotted for the mosque,” said Chhedi Ali, a mosque committee member.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
