Muslim bodies question extraordinary haste in Saharanpur mosque demolition

A mosque, located inside the District Magistrate’s office complex, is being demolished, in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on September 6, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI Noted Muslim bodies, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, have spoken in one voice to “condemn the demolition of a century-old mosque on the Saharanpur Collectorate premises”, terming it “a serious blow to the principles of justice and due process of law”.Mahmood Madani, president of one of the factions of Jamiat, said, “The manner in which the demolition was carried out raised fundamental questions about the administration’s conduct. Since the dispute concerned land within the Collectorate premises, the administration and the magistrate had themselves become parties to the matter. It is a universally recognised principle of law that no party can be a judge in its own cause”.‘Blot on democracy’His words found an echo in the expression of Malik Moatasim Khan, vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami, who said, “We strongly denounce the demolition of a historic mosque. It was a brazen and unforgivable act of sycophancy and political servility. What did the Saharanpur officials achieve besides exposing their biased, bigoted, and communal mindset before the world? The entire episode is a blot on Indian democracy”.Mr. Madani further claimed that the lower court’s order of September 4 contained no explicit direction for the immediate demolition of the mosque. “Yet, within just a few hours, the administration proceeded to demolish the mosque without allowing the affected party sufficient time to pursue legal remedies or even obtain a certified copy of the court order,” he argued, adding, “a lower court’s decision cannot be treated as the final word when the law provides avenues of appeal before the higher judiciary. The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to approach the higher courts for relief. When an action can cause irreversible damage, denying the affected party even a reasonable opportunity to seek judicial intervention is deeply troubling”.Why the hasteHe questioned the extraordinary haste with which the demolition was carried out, saying it had effectively left the affected party with little or no opportunity to seek relief from the higher judiciary. “When the consequences of an action are irreversible, the first responsibility of the authorities should be to ensure due process, not to rush through the demolition,” he said.He urged the mosque committee to approach the High Court without delay and called upon all sections of society to speak out against what he described as “a growing pattern of arbitrary action against mosques and other places of worship”.A few hours earlier, his uncle and president of the other faction of Jamiat, Arshad Madani, again raised a fundamental question before the country: Is the Constitution and the law truly being implemented equally for every citizen and every religion?“If the Constitution guarantees equality, freedom of religion, and equal protection of the law to all, then why is such a double standard being witnessed in its practical implementation?” Published - September 06, 2026 07:12 pm IST