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By Zoya MateenBBC News, Delhi
Antariksh Jain/BBCFawad says his favorite color is inexperienced.
The 12-year-old cherished wanting on the grass, leaves and timber across the mosque the place he lived and studied in India’s capital Delhi. He moved right here two years in the past from a neighbouring state after his dad and mom abruptly died.
His dwelling in Delhi – the Akhoondji Mosque, estimated to be at the very least 600 years previous, and its adjoining madrassa (spiritual college) – was additionally inexperienced, its joists, beams and a number of other archways painted in the identical color.
In a brand new metropolis, wanting on the acquainted color made Fawad really feel protected. But now, he says it makes him cry.
On 30 January, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) – a federally-run city planning organisation – bulldozed the mosque, alleging unlawful encroachment. Along with it, the madrassa – the place Fawad and 25 different college students, largely orphans, lived – and an adjoining graveyard and a shrine of a Sufi saint positioned contained in the mosque complicated had been additionally razed.
Nestled in Sanjay Van, a sprawling 784-acre forest in Mehrauli, considered one of Delhi’s seven medieval cities, the realm is teeming with ruins and monuments that narrate town’s wealthy previous.
In a press release, the DDA stated the mosque was an “illegal structure” which was demolished “without any hindrance and disturbance”.
But the mosque’s imam Zakir Hussain and their advocate Shams Khwaja deny this, saying the property belonged to the Delhi Waqf Board, which is liable for the upkeep of Islamic properties within the metropolis.
Mr Hussain claims that authorities didn’t give them written discover earlier than demolishing the constructions. He additionally alleges that copies of the Quran had been broken, youngsters weren’t allowed to avoid wasting their belongings and that property data which proved that the mosque wasn’t unlawful had been taken away from them.
“They left us out in the cold with nothing but prayers,” Mr Hussain says.
The matter is being heard by the Delhi High Court, which on Monday ordered “a status quo” on the positioning till the subsequent listening to.
Muzammil SulemanThe DDA has denied all of the allegations, saying that the land on which the mosque stood was its property.
“We found some books while clearing the site and we’ve asked mosque authorities to collect them from us,” Rajeev Kumar Tiwari, the principal commissioner of DDA’s horticulture division, advised the BBC.
In the times because the demolition, authorities have razed just a few extra historic constructions in Mehrauli, together with what many imagine was the shrine of one of many first Sufi saints in Delhi.
Outraged preservationists and historians have referred to as this a “mindless” destruction of collective heritage that strikes on the very soul of town.
History dwells in most corners of Delhi, which has survived waves of conquests and alter. The previous co-exists with the current – you might be in a swanky neighbourhood with upscale pubs and eating places and switch round to see a twelfth Century monument or tomb wedged between the alleys.
“Delhi’s incredibly rich past has contributed to its evolution as a unique city. To pitch it against progress or development is a false dichotomy,” says historian Sohail Hashmi.
Critics have questioned the logic behind labelling centuries-old constructions – older than the forests and habitats round them – unlawful. They additionally allege that the deliberate demolitions unfairly give attention to Muslim cultural and historic heritage. Among the 20 spiritual constructions slated for elimination in Sanjay Van in accordance with the DDA, 16 are Muslim shrines (“mazaars”) and 4 are temples.
“Clearly a pattern is emerging and it sets alarming precedent for a country that treats all religions equally,” Mr Hashmi says.
But Mr Tiwari stated {that a} “perfectly legal” transfer was unnecessarily being given spiritual overtones. He added that the DDA often acted in opposition to encroachments on authorities land, together with by temples, and that it had demolished 5 temples in a distinct neighbourhood on the identical day because the mosque.
“We are just doing our job,” he stated.
Those affected say the mosque’s demolition was unannounced and chaotic. The BBC spoke to 9 youngsters who stated they’d woken up for morning prayers at 5am after they heard a loud rumble. One of them, Omar, remembers seeing dozens of policemen, just a few bulldozers and “some angry-looking men screaming at us to come outside”.
Then the imam, Mr Hussain, rushed in. “Run, run,” he yelled. “Take whatever you can find and just run!”
Omar ran with only a sweater and slippers in hand. His buddy Mureed could not even do this and went barefoot. Five different youngsters – all 10 years previous – stated they ran out with out jackets or sneakers.
“I was lucky, at least I could bring my plate,” says Zafar. “That and my favourite bat.”
Muzammil SulemanIt’s not simply the kids who’re devastated. Mr Hussain, who lived in a small constructing close to the mosque together with his household, has additionally develop into homeless. He says that he visits the place on daily basis, getting as shut as he can earlier than being stopped by police personnel guarding the positioning.
Muzammil Salmani, who taught English and Hindi on the madrassa, says his uncle was buried within the graveyard subsequent to the mosque. After the demolition, all they discovered had been some damaged items of his grave’s epitaph.
“People don’t understand – this was not just an old mosque, graveyard or madrassa. It was a shelter,” he says.
Not a lot is thought in regards to the mosque’s historical past – some say it was constructed by a thirteenth Century princess, Razia Sultana, thought of the primary feminine Muslim chief of the Indian subcontinent. Others say it might be even older. Mr Hashmi says the usage of gray stone within the construction signifies it may have been constructed in the course of the Sultanate interval about 600-700 years in the past.
Records from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) present the mosque was repaired round 1853 underneath the final Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. It even bore an inscription written by the emperor himself, says historian Rana Safvi.
While a lot of the construction underwent trendy reconstruction, Ms Safvi says the mosque was nonetheless an important a part of historical past which deserved to be preserved. “After all, how can a mosque which was important for the last Mughal emperor be insignificant?”
The DDA, nonetheless, says it had no file of the mosque’s historical past. “I found out after the demolition that historians are making the claim,” Mr Tiwari stated, including that “the structure also looked modern and not old at all”.
“We have gone out of the way to preserve monuments declared of national importance but this structure is not a part of any such record,” he stated.
For the folks of Mehrauli, the mosque was additionally a social lifeline, a sanctuary and an escape, says Usama, who makes use of just one identify.
An architect who paperwork the realm’s historical past in his free time, Mr Usama remembers the time he spent on the mosque celebrating festivals with the kids and assembly travellers from throughout the nation who got here to wish on the mosque.
“Even though it was inside the jungle, the place was an important community centre which brought all kinds of people together. For them, its value was practical and not just historical,” he says.
DDA authorities preserve the construction was razed as a result of it was illegally constructed on treasured forest land.
Sanjay Van, one of many metropolis’s final inexperienced havens, earned protected forest standing within the Nineteen Nineties amid rising urbanisation considerations. Lately, the DDA has initiated a number of anti-encroachment efforts within the space.
But historians level out that the mosque existed a lot earlier than the forest acquired protected standing and due to this fact could not be thought of an encroachment.
They fear that such strikes may threaten different constructions in Mehrauli, that are badly in want of repairs.
“There is no doubt that the forest is important. But there should be no clash between the forest and historical structures inside it; both need to be preserved,” Mr Hashmi says.
In 2023, the DDA in its own submissions earlier than the excessive courtroom had stated it might not demolish mosques, graves, and different respectable properties owned by the Delhi Waqf Board in Mehrauli as they fell inside the board’s purview, and carried spiritual significance.
Last week, the DDA stated the mosque’s demolition was “approved” by a spiritual committee fashioned to look into such circumstances. Mosque authorities have challenged this in courtroom, alleging that authorities overrode a 2022 courtroom ruling that ordered DDA to determine land owned by the Waqf and demarcate it earlier than enterprise any demolitions within the space.
Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan says that present legal guidelines appear to have been arbitrarily utilized on this case. “Even if DDA is invoking forest laws, they have to first determine the rights of the people living in these areas.”
Mr Tiwari, nonetheless, says the land belonged to the DDA within the first place, so “such laws don’t apply” on this case.
Away from the controversies, Fawad performs cricket together with his pals within the courtyard of his new dwelling at one other mosque.
He would not hate it right here, however there are fewer inexperienced facades and the place feels “new and different” with out them, he says.
“But maybe I’ll find a new favourite colour,” he says.
Names of the kids have been modified to guard their identification
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