The mosque was built with the consent of the municipal board after the original structure was removed in January 2024
Team Clarion
GORAKHPUR — As Muslims across the country prepared to welcome the blessed month of Ramadan by bedecking their places of worship, Muslims in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur were forced to go through the ignominy of pulling down two upper floors of a mosque. The dismantling of the floors was ordered by the Gorakhpur Development Authority (GDA) within 15 days terming it “illegal construction”.
The management committee of the Abu Huraira Masjid employed 15 labourers and bulldozers to carry out the demolition.
On February 13, Shoaib Ahmed, the caretaker of the mosque, received a notice from the GDA stating that the mosque was built without an approved map and in violation of the construction rules. The notice asked Ahmed to dismantle the unauthorised portion within a fortnight. The notice also said if the instructions were not carried out by the stipulated time, the authorities would carry out the process and the incurred costs would be recovered from Ahmed.
“This mosque was built with the consent of the municipal board after the original structure was removed in January 2024. The land was allotted to us, yet the GDA is now terming it illegal,” said Ahmed.
Ahmad said the mosque is built on a 520 sq ft plot legally designated for religious purposes.
He received the notice dated February 5, 2025 on February 13. An objection was filed on February 14, along with a request for additional time to respond; however, the demolition order was issued the following day.
Ahmed’s counsel, Jai Prakash Narayan Srivastava, asserted that the mosque’s land is not in dispute. The GDA has issued a demolition order citing the lack of a map; however, the Urban Development Department’s directive from 2008 states that a map is not required for construction on plots measuring up to 100 square meters.
Ahmed stated that when his father inquired with the GDA about obtaining a map before constructing the mosque on the land allocated by the Municipal Corporation, he was also told that a map was not required for construction on such a small plot of land.
The mosque was constructed just a year ago. An ancient mosque that previously stood in proximity to the current structure was demolished by the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation on January 25, last year alongside numerous houses and shops in the area.
Subsequently, following a mutual agreement between the municipal corporation and representatives of the mosque, the corporation allocated a plot of land measuring 24 x 26 feet, which is the site of the new mosque.
The then mosque’s caretaker (Mutawalli) Suhail Ahmed passed away last year. Following his death, his son, Shuaib Ahmed, has taken over the responsibility of managing the mosque.
In the recent days, this is another incident in which Muslims were being forced to demolish a mosque on their own following the demand by the authorities in Uttar Pradesh.
On 21 February, a decades-old mosque located on Delhi Road in Meerut district was demolished late at night to make way for the construction of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Corridor. The exercise was carried out in the presence of police and administrative officers.
A representative of the mosque said that they have all documents related to the construction of the mosque since 1857. But they had no choice except for the demolition after they were served with a notice to that effect.
“Friday prayers were not offered at the mosque. We had no choice but to follow the decision of the authorities. We even have documents related to the construction of the mosque from 1857. It also had historic significance. We just want the administration to provide an alternative site for constructing a mosque,” said Haji Swaleheen about the mosque.
Last month itself, the authorities demolished parts of a mosque calling it “encroachment” and “illegal” in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar.
