By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal : A petition has been filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur following the demolition of an ancient Masjid (mosque) Kothri in village Dodi in Ashta tehsil in Sehore district, about 70 kms from the state capital Bhopal in the night on January 29 last.
The petition has been filed on behalf of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, (AIMPLB), by its member Arif Masood, a Congress leader. The petition is likely to be taken up on Wednesday by the High Court for hearing and passing of necessary direction if any.
Intriguingly the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board, (MPWB), which is the custodian of the mosque, sources said, has not filed petition in the High Court even after four days of the demolition of Masjid. Anger and discontent is simmering in the Muslim community following the demolition. The Masjid was situated on Bhopal-Indore road and was razed without proper notice to make adequate room for four-lane highway.
Arif Masood, who visited the site with his supporters on Sunday, took stock of the situation. He offered ‘Namaz’ along with his supporters and local residents at the site of the demolished Masjid.
He later submitted a memorandum to Governor Dr. Balram Jakhar while condemning the demolition of the Masjid demanded stern action against the guilty involved in the act and permission to rebuilt the Masjid at the same site. Earlier , the local residents following the demolition had rushed to Bhopal on January 30 to apprise the Waqf Board authorities and submitted a memorandum to the Governor o this effect under the leadership of former Minister and former Chairman of Madhya Pradesh Minorities Commission Ibrahim Qureshi.
Masood said that he along with Maulana Masih Alam reached village Dodi from Bhopal and met the local Muslims and reviewed the situation and had discussions with the local leaders. Later, they offered Zohar Namaz at the site of demolished Mosque. Interestingly non-Muslims offered water to them for performing “Wuzu” (ablution), he informed.
He expressed concern over the demolition of the ancient Masjid. He said the demolition is in violation of Rule 51-91 of the Waqf Act 1995 wherein no mosque can be demolished or removed without the consent of the Waqf Board and local residents. He held Collector Sehore district responsible for the demolition.
The decision to meet the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for discussions and if need arises to hold a protest rally was taken jointly by Qazi of Ashta Fazle Arif, Arif Masood, Maulana Masih Alam, Muslim community representatives on the occasion.
Meanwhile, the Masjid Kothri Committee had on February 26, 2008 taken a “fatwa” (edict) issued from Dar-ul-Ifta, Masajid Committee, Bhopal which stated that any ancient Masjid cannot be relocated any other place under the Shari’ah rulings.
It may be mentioned here that CEO MPWB had written letters on November 19, 2008 to Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation, (MPRDC), and Collector of Sehore District that the said Masjid is registered with the MPWB under Registration No. 685 and is entered in Madhya Pradesh Government’s Gazette survey No. 390 dated 25-9-1989 with Khasra No. 601 having an area of 0.006 hectare. That any move to demolish and relocate the mosque without the permission of the Board is illegal vide Sections 51 & 19 of Waqf Act 1995, the letter had warned. The MPWB CEO in the letter had urged the MD of MPRDC to send his representative to the MPWB office for discussion on the issue. The Sehore Collector had been asked not to proceed with the road construction works without the permission of the Waqf Board. The MPWB had also asked the Collector to inform the Board about the action taken in this regard.
Meanwhile, several Muslim organizations have expressed outrage and questioned the role of Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board in not taking action to save the Masjid from being demolished.
The All India Muslim Teohar Committee, (AIMTC), has said that the Masjid to be re-built at the same site and the construction should start within 24 hours. The AIMTC has also suspected the role of certain ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP), and main Opposition Congress leaders in the demolition.
The AIMTC chairman Dr. Ausaf Shahmiri Khurram has demanded stern action against those involved in the demolition. He has urged the state Governor Dr. Balram Jakhar and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take necessary action in this regard.
The Jamiat Farogh-e-Islam, All India Anjuman-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen , Jamiat Quraish, Muslim Makrani Jamat, Ahl-e-Sunnat Jamat, All India Jamiat Mansoori, Muslim Ekta Parishad, National Secularism Front, Anjuman-e-Momineen, Anjuman-e-Chishtia and scores of other organizations have supported the demand to reconstruct the Masjid. ([email protected])