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- By Zoya Mateen
- BBC News, Delhi
Image supply, Antariksh Jain/BBC
Around two dozen kids lived within the madrassa run by the now-demolished mosque – most of them are orphans
Fawad says his favorite color is inexperienced.
The 12-year-old cherished wanting on the grass, leaves and bushes 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 mother and father abruptly died.
His dwelling in Delhi – the Akhoondji Mosque, estimated to be no less than 600 years outdated, and its adjoining madrassa (non secular college) – was additionally inexperienced, its joists, beams and several other archways painted in the identical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, principally orphans, lived – and an adjoining graveyard and a shrine of a Sufi saint positioned contained in the mosque complicated have 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 the 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 answerable for the upkeep of Islamic properties within the metropolis.
Mr Hussain claims that authorities didn’t give them written discover earlier than demolishing the buildings. He additionally alleges that copies of the Quran have been broken, kids weren’t allowed to save lots of their belongings and that property information which proved that the mosque wasn’t unlawful have 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 location till the subsequent listening to.
Image supply, Muzammil Suleman
Fawad cherished the inexperienced arches of the mosque the place he lived and studied
The 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, instructed the BBC.
In the times because the demolition, authorities have razed just a few extra historic buildings in Mehrauli, together with what many consider was the shrine of one of many first Sufi saints in Delhi.
History dwells in most corners of Delhi, which has survived waves of conquests and alter. The previous co-exists with the current – you may 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 buildings – older than the forests and habitats round them – unlawful. They additionally allege that the deliberate demolitions unfairly concentrate on Muslim cultural and historic heritage. Among the 20 non secular buildings slated for elimination in Sanjay Van based on 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 non secular overtones. He added that the DDA ceaselessly acted in opposition to encroachments on authorities land, together with by temples, and that it had demolished 5 temples in a special 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 kids who stated that they had 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 pal Mureed could not even do this and went barefoot. Five different kids – all 10 years outdated – stated they ran out with out jackets or footwear.
“I was lucky, at least I could bring my plate,” says Zafar. “That and my favourite bat.”
Image supply, Muzammil Suleman
Rubble on the website the place the mosque stood for hundreds of years
It’s not simply the youngsters who’re devastated. Mr Hussain, who lived in a small constructing close to the mosque along with his household, has additionally turn into homeless. He says that he visits the place day by day, getting as shut as he can earlier than being stopped by police personnel guarding the location.
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 have 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 understood concerning the mosque’s historical past – some say it was constructed by a thirteenth Century princess, Razia Sultana, thought-about the primary feminine Muslim chief of the Indian subcontinent. Others say it may very well be even older. Mr Hashmi says the usage of gray stone within the construction signifies it may have been constructed throughout 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 below 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 a significant 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 report 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.
The mosque’s imam Zakir Hussain visits the location of the demolition day by day – he misses his dwelling, he says
For the individuals 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 youngsters and assembly travellers from throughout the nation who got here to hope 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 subsequently could not be thought-about an encroachment.
They fear that such strikes may threaten different buildings in Mehrauli, that are badly in want of maintenance.
“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.
The kids say they miss their outdated dwelling
In 2023, the DDA in its own submissions earlier than the excessive courtroom had stated it could not demolish mosques, graves, and different official properties owned by the Delhi Waqf Board in Mehrauli as they fell inside the board’s purview, and carried non secular significance.
Last week, the DDA stated the mosque’s demolition was “approved” by a non secular 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 establish land owned by the Waqf and demarcate it earlier than enterprise any demolitions within the space.
Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan says that current 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 along with his mates within the courtyard of his new dwelling at one other mosque.
He does 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 youngsters have been modified to guard their id
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