The authorities’s web site celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ has a separate part for the “unsung heroes of India’s freedom struggle”. Listed amongst these heroes is the well-known Maulana Hasrrat Mohani. The Maulana, although initially elected on a Muslim League ticket, was a staunch opponent of the two-nation concept and was amongst these Muslims who determined to remain again in India, contributing considerably to the constitution-making course of as a member of the Constituent Assembly.

His rules didn’t permit him to avail of any authorities allowances or lodging. Even to attend the Constituent Assembly, he would select to remain in mosques and experience in a shared tonga (horse carriage). One such mosque was a small however outdated one on the Sunehri Bagh Roundabout, in shut proximity to Raisina Hill. 

This small mosque at Sunehri Bagh, whose historical past reveals its survival even towards Edwin Lutyens’ plan for New Delhi, has discovered itself within the eye of the storm over a century later.

The trigger is a discover inviting solutions issued by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) relating to a proposal for its removing. The proposal, because the discover signifies, is submitted by the Delhi Traffic Police, ostensibly for offering a “traffic engineering proposal to ensure sustainable mobility.” 

It is undoubtedly true that the mosque is a Delhi Waqf Board property and has been standing tall for hundreds of years. As identified by quite a few historians, it is a vital heritage construction not just for Muslims but in addition for the democratic historical past of our nation. It serves as a reminder of one of many unsung heroes of the liberty battle, whom we rejoice through the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. However, past the questions of faith and the rights of ‘minorities’ — a time period that was not a lot to the liking of the Maulana both — a bigger query of equality and reasonableness arises. 

Also learn: ‘Constant Attempt to Erode Medieval Architecture, Heritage’: Historians Org on Sunehri Bagh Mosque

If the problem genuinely pertains to visitors administration, Lutyens’ Delhi is now marked by an abundance of such roundabouts, resulting in occasional visitors congestion at varied factors all through the day – an inherent attribute of any main metropolis worldwide. A notable occasion is the GPO Roundabout, internet hosting the famend Gole Dak-Khana inside, and flanked by Gurudwara Bangla Sahib on one facet and the Convent of Jesus and Mary on the opposite. During noon, on college days, this roundabout experiences vital visitors congestion. Similarly, attorneys coming back from the Supreme Court to their workplaces through the lunch hour have learnt over time that it’s best to keep away from the Mathura Road turning close to the Delhi Public School. Would such congestion — undoubtedly extra pronounced than on the Sunehri Bagh roundabout — justify the removing of historic constructions and even faculties? The unequivocal reply is clear. 

In a nation ruled by the rule of regulation, with its structure constructed upon the founding rules of equality and fraternity, any state motion is scrutinised based mostly on the extent of reasonability of the motion with the supposed goal.

The Sunehri Bagh roundabout accommodates a small historic mosque in a single part, whereas the rest is basically occupied by the ugly mechanical vents of the Udyog Bhawan metro station located instantly beneath the roundabout. The web site can be surrounded by a cluster of presidency buildings, together with Vayu Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan, and Nirman Bhawan. Moreover, no less than three entrances of the Udyog Bhawan metro station encircle the roundabout, attracting auto-rickshaws and different automobiles parked close by. 

While problems with structure, heritage and historical past could also be addressed appropriately by the consultants of the sector, the authorized challenge may be acknowledged as to the reasonableness of the necessity for removing of the mosque when the construction itself can’t be blamed for no matter negligible visitors the huge roads within the Lutyens space might even see. Equally, the proposal given by the Traffic Police lacks any intelligible differentia for the classification made in looking for removing of 1 construction whereas different areas of Delhi stay marred by worse visitors or any affordable nexus to reveal how “sustainable mobility” is to be obtained by removing of a heritage construction. 

Coming again to the Maulana, a lesser recognized truth of his life is that other than being an astute statesman, parliamentarian and one of many outstanding freedom fighters, he was additionally an Urdu poet of appreciable talent and attraction. The well-known ghazal ‘chupke chupke raat din aansu bahana yaad hai’, immortalised in our reminiscences within the voice of Ustad Ghulam Ali, was additionally his creation. While chupke chupke would ring a tune in anybody’s thoughts though they might not be conscious of the Maulana, given the topic one can’t resist the temptation to cite one in every of his lesser recognized couplets the place he stated “vāqif haiñ ḳhuub aap ke tarz-e-jafā se ham, iz.hār-e-iltifāt kī zahmat na kījiye” (Well conscious I’m of your tyrannies, please spare your self from the difficulty of stating the identical).

Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi is Advocate-on-Record Supreme court docket.