Where a centuries-old mosque once stood inside Delhi’s Mehrauli, there is now a flat patch of land barricaded by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) authorities. This was the sight after the DDA demolished Masjid Akhunji, Madrasa Bahrul Uloom and a decades-old graveyard abruptly in the wee hours of 31 January, Wednesday.
Imam Zakir Hussain who has been a Waqf board member and caretaker of the mosque since the last 13 years told The Quint, “On 31 January, the DDA authorities came at 5:30 in the morning. The children of the madarsa and I were up because of Fajr (early morning prayers). We were just doing wudhu (ablution) and preparing for namaz when they arrived. I got scared looking at such a crowd and the bulldozers all of a sudden.”
The DDA authorities told Hussain that the properties are on “DDA land.” Hussain promptly told them that it is Waqf’s land.
“I told them I had all the documents, tehsil records and that we also fought and won our case regarding getting overdue demarcation in Delhi High Court in 2022. We pay electricity and water bills to the government too. But they didn’t listen. How did they come to demolish it now?”
Imam Zakir Hussain to The Quint
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.