Centuries-old mosque, 4 temples among 8 places razed in Dahod

As a part of two-tier security arrangements, around 450 police personnel were deployed for the 4.30 am demolition. The mosque was “demolished in a peaceful and amicable” manner, officials added.

“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, who is part of the district-level panel for the implementation of the Smart City Project, told The Indian Express.

“On Friday evening, a meeting was held between the mosque members with the sub-divisional magistrate, Prant Officer, and chief officer of the municipality, among others, where the Trust members agreed to evacuate the premises on being given the option to demolish the structure on their own. We did not have to enter the premises as they had already evacuated the structure. The police deployment will remain but we do not anticipate any trouble,” Meena added.

In their petition before Gujarat High Court, the Trust had pointed out that notices under the Gujarat Municipalities Act were issued to nearby shops over alleged encroachment and these were demolished on May 15. But the authorities also started demolishing other shops that were under the ownership of the petitioner Trust “without any notice”.

A member of the Masjid committee told The Indian Express, “We were informed by the administration on Monday the documents will have to be produced by Friday otherwise the demolition will be done after the Jumma prayers. The High Court too did not grant us relief. So on Friday afternoon, we were told to remove our belongings. When the authorities had razed six feet of the compound earlier this week, we had already removed some of our important belongings.”

Owing to the ongoing summer vacation at Gujarat HC, the petition remains to be registered.

The trust will be approaching the court, people privy to the matter said, seeking that status quo ante be maintained now following the demolition, as the masjid was a Waqf property and such action would have also required approval of the Waqf Board. The Trust further stated the mosque had been standing since 1926 in a part of the Trust’s land, which was registered in 1953.