Behind rare Shimla communal flare-up, local incident that pushed city to edge

But it was an incident that took place around 8 kilometres away, in the village of Malyana, that first set things in motion.

On August 31, local shopkeeper Vikram Singh had an altercation with a barber shop owner, Gulnawaz. Police eventually picked up six persons, including Gulnawaz and two minors, for assaulting Vikram, but the seemingly local incident snowballed as allegations emerged that the accused had taken shelter at the mosque in question.

Vikas Thapta, an office bearer of Civil Society Sanjauli, which claims to work for the protection of women rights and is one of several outfits demanding the mosque’s demolition, said, “Muslims have been residing here for ages. There would be quarrels earlier too, but things have changed now… Gulnawaz is not from Shimla – he came here a long time ago and married a Hindu woman. And over 10 years, he purchased three more shops, all being run by his friends. What triggered tensions were reports that after assaulting Vikram, a few of the accused took shelter at that mosque.”

Vikram, however, told The Indian Express, “Truly speaking, I have no idea how this matter reached the mosque in Sanjauli. It was around 9.15 pm when I was attacked, after I objected to Gulnawaz using abusive language in the market. My shop is near Gulnawaz’s, who goes by the name Kunal in the locality. I called my fellow shopkeepers, including one Yashpal Sharma, who was hit with an iron rod on his head. Sharma is a member of the Beopar Mandal, an umbrella body of traders in Shimla. One of the assailants was arrested the same night, and others surrendered at the police station the next day. What I remember is that some people started saying the assailants had escaped and taken shelter in the mosque.”

The first protest around the mosque was on September 3 – two days after the assault. The next day, BJP MLA from Chopal, Balbir Singh Verma, listed the communal tension in the area as a subject of discussion under Rule 62 in the Vidhan Sabha, where the monsoon session was underway.

Though the matter was listed by the BJP MLA, it was Congress minister Anirudh Singh who received rousing applause – including from the BJP – when he spoke about the need to defend the rights of people of the state. He demanded measures to register people coming from other states, and said that if the mosque is proved to be illegal, it will be demolished.

Anirudh also highlighted how a litigation pertaining to the mosque has been pending in the court of Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner since 2010. Malyana, where the assault took place, falls under Kasumpti Assembly constituency, from where Anirudh won the 2022 Assembly elections.

Protestors, who had gathered on the call of Hindu groups, clash with security personnel during a protest demanding the demolition of an illegal structure in a mosque, at Sanjauli locality in Shimla (PTI)

Harish Janartha, Anirudh’s fellow Congress MLA from Shimla (Urban), under which Sanjauli falls, urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to intervene in the matter. But in comments that suggested discomfiture with Anirudh’s remarks, Janartha also expressed surprise that a matter from Malyana had reached his constituency.

“A clash between members of two communities had taken place over a small issue in Malyana, but the matter reached Sanjauli, where an illegal four-storey structure is standing. Last year, the local municipal corporation demolished a part of the structure… In view of the clash, six suspects were apprehended. They all belong to the minority community and are from Muzaffarpur. But I am of the opinion that someone could have called, informing me of what is happening in my area,” Janartha said.

The mosque stands downhill from Sanjauli market, en route to Kufri. The ground floor was constructed in 1960, and three other storeys were added in 2010. The construction was challenged before the Municipal Corporation, Shimla, and 44 hearings took place between 2010 and 2024. The next date of hearing is October 5.

With no let up in protests by right-wing outfits, and the police having to resort to mild force to disperse protesters over the past few days, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said nobody should take the law into their hands. Former CM Jairam Thakur of the BJP, however, accused the Congress government of taking the matter lightly and blamed it for rolling back his government’s decision about registration of migrant workers coming from other states to Himachal Pradesh.

Shops closed in a market area in view of the ‘bandh’ called by traders to protest the police action during an agitation demanding the demolition of an illegal structure in a mosque on Wednesday, at Sanjauli locality in Shimla, Thursday (PTI)

On Thursday, the Congress accused the BJP of providing Rs 2 lakh to help build the mosque during their tenure – claims that the party denied.

Outfits leading the protests against the structure include the Hindu Jagran Manch, the Beopar Mandal, the Mahila Mandal Sanjauli and the Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti.

Representatives of some of these outfits also submitted a memorandum to local government officers, demanding registration of “outsiders”, and removal of illegally constructed religious structures belonging to minority communities in Mandi, Kangra, Solan and Siramur.

Himachal has a 95.17 percent Hindu population, while Muslims make up 2.18 percent, and Sikhs 1.16 percent.

Zaffar Iqbal, the CEO-cum-administrator of the state’s Waqf Board, told The Indian Express, “The land where the mosque is situated very much belongs to the State Waqf Board… It was built decades ago. The Waqf Board itself does not indulge in the construction of any structure; it gives a no-objection certificate to the local committee, which takes care of the site. It is upon the committee members to complete the formalities, including obtaining necessary permissions to construct, extend and alter the structure. I am not aware of whether the local committee obtained approval from local authorities to extend the structure or not. I was told that the structure was extended to facilitate people praying inside the mosque instead of on the roads and other public areas.”