Over the past two weeks, Hindutva organisations have been demanding the demolition of portions of a mosque in Sanjauli in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh that they claim are illegal. On September 11, after a demonstration against the mosque turned violent, the police fired water cannons at and baton-charged protesters. The Congress has been in power in Himachal Pradesh since December 2022.
The objection to the allegedly illegal parts of the mosque is not just a town planning problem but is symptomatic of a larger, more insidious political strategy. It exemplifies how the Bharatiya Janata Party and allied Hindutva organisations are transforming a local urban planning matter into a tool of polarisation.
By framing the mosque as a symbol of encroachment and mobilising hate politics around it, the Hindutva movement is not only attempting to reshape the political landscape of Shimla but also transforming the very nature of urban planning itself into a battleground for identity and power.
This story was originally published in scroll.in. Read the full story here.
