BAHRAICH — Four “illegal” mazars, including the prominent Lakkar Shah Baba mazar, located in the core area of the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district, were demolished, an official said on Monday, June 9.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) B Shivshanker told reporters that the action was taken the previous day under provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, PTI reported.
“The shrines of Lakkar Shah, Bhawar Shah, Chaman Shah, and Shahn Shah were situated in beat number 20 of the Murtiha Range. These mazars lie within forest land. Though the mazar committee submitted a copy of a 1986 Waqf Board registration, they failed to provide any legal evidence of ownership or land rights,” he said.
The press briefing was held at the Collectorate auditorium, with district magistrate Monika Rani and the Superintendent of Police in attendance.
Shivshanker said that under the Forest Conservation Act, an approval from the Centre is mandatory for non-forestry use of forest land, which was not obtained in this case.
“Hence, the structures were declared encroachments and demolished accordingly,” he said.
The DFO said that the mazar committee had earlier moved the high court against the department’s actions, but could secure no relief.
Forest staff, Special Tiger Protection Force, local police, and Provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed at the site to prevent any confrontation leading to law and order breakdown, he said.
Asked why the media was kept off the demolished site, Shivshanker said, “The area falls in a jungle zone where the presence of wild animals could lead to human-wildlife conflict, hence access was restricted.”
District Magistrate Monika Rani, however, directed that mediapersons may be allowed limited access to the site under the forest officials’ supervision.
Israr, secretary of the mazar committee, told reporters that the Lakkar Shah Baba shrine had been hosting the annual urs since the 16th century, which the forest department recently banned. “We are considering approaching the high court against this act by the forest department,” he said.
Last month, the district administration also imposed restrictions, citing security reasons, on the annual fair held at the famous Sayyad Salar Masud Ghazi dargah in Bahraich.
Earlier, when the department stopped the annual fair at the mazar, shrine management committee president Rais Ahmad had said the dargah symbolised Hindu-Muslim unity, with almost 60 per cent of the visitors being Hindu.
“Fairs have been held here for centuries. The same forest department that used to auction contracts and issue work orders is now calling it encroachment,” he said.
