By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: In yet another attempt to occupy Muslim religious places, the police in connivance with local Residents Welfare Association (RWA are preventing Muslims to restore the centuries-old Qanati Masjid located at Zor Bagh area under Lodhi Road police station in New Delhi.
In a crucial order on 18th Jan. 2011 the Delhi High Court cleared the way to restore the Qanati Masjid by dismissing the claims by several government and local authorities including Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Residents Welfare Association (RWA), New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI.) The HC not only passed the judgment that the land belongs to Delhi Waqf Board but also directed NDMC to submit its work plan for repair of the Masjid before the court on 24th Jan.
The order gave a sigh of relief to the local Muslims but unfortunately it did not last long. On 20th Jan., as a part of preparation for Chahallum due on 25th Jan. the local Muslims started to clean the Masjid. This virtual deed earned them the ire of RWA and as usual Police arrested five Muslims from the spot. They were freed only in the night that too after several Muslim leaders approached the police.
Qanati Masjid is one of the many Masjids and Muslim religious places in the national capital that have been deserted for years due to illegal encroachment by government agencies and dubious role of police.
Qanati Masjid is registered with Waqf Board and Anjuman-e-Haidri, a local body authorized by Waqf Board, is responsible to look after the Masjid. The Anjuman also looks after Safaid Masjid, Dargah Shah-e-Mardan, Bada Karbala and Chota Karbala. All are on the Waqf Board land.
“We have all kinds of documents to prove that the Masjid is on the Waqf land and in 2005 also the HC delivered the judgment in the favor of the Masjid but Residence Welfare Association (RWA) and NDMC with the help of local police always gave the matter a communal colour” said Syed Bahadur Abbas Naqvi, Waqf Secretary and Trustee of Dargah Shah-e-Mardan while talking to TwoCircles.net.
“There are 500 acres of Waqf land in the locality. Most of the land is occupied by local people. Leave alone the land on which they built houses, when we try to restore the land where the sign of religious structure remains till today, they object and through money power they use police to harass us” he told TCN.
The arrest of Muslims who were not doing any illegal work and let others free who were creating a communal environment is enough to prove as to how police is discriminatory to Muslims.
History of the mosque
Qanati Masjid was built nearly 400 years ago in Mughal period and remained inhabited until the fateful incident of partition took place and barring few, Muslims of the locality migrated. Due to little number of Muslims there, the regular five times prayers halted at the Masjid but occasional prayers such as in Muharram, Rabiul Awwal and Chahallum have always been offered there.
With the passage of time the wall of the Masjid fell down and there left no bar for strayed dogs and other animals to enter the exact place of the prayer in the Masjid. In 1995, Muslims of the area planned to construct walls around the Masjid to prevent such things. But as soon as they came to the Masjid to construct the wall, RWA complained to Police and police not only stopped the work but it also registered case against several Muslims alleging they were occupying DDA land turning the deaf ear to the fact that the land belongs to Waqf Board.
Where problem lies
Actually after Muslims left the place during partition, Hindus who migrated from Pakistan at that time populated the area. They not only occupied the Waqf properties but also tried to put the remaining small number of local Muslims under pressure.
“The root of the problem is that hardly 100 Muslims are living here that too are poor and daily waged while the colony is populated with migrated Hindus who are wealthy. They fear that if today Masjid is restored then may be Waqf Board will vacate the land that they illegally occupied. Therefore, they spend heavy amount on police to serve their purpose” said Abbas Naqvi.
Besides illegal buildings on the Waqf land, there are 6 big plots that are registered to the Board but whenever officials try to wall the land, Police stops them saying that it is DDA or NDMC land. They have illegally occupied the surrounding land of Dargah-e-Shahe Mardan and due to this encroachment one of the two gates of the dargah has been blocked.
“There were only two parties — Waqf Board and RWA– but to complicate the issue several government bodies were involved including NDMC, DDA, Archaeological Survey of India and Delhi Police” he said.
“A person is running a factory of wooden items on the land of Waqf Board that is at back side of Qanati Masjid. We have complained several times to the police but all in vain. Recently, we have filed plea in the court against it” he added.
Timeline of cases
The case which was registered against Muslims for fencing the Masjid had been a tool for police to harass them for years. In 2004, Waqf Board filed a petition in Delhi HC seeking permission for restoration of the Qanati Masjid and fencing the all lands come under the Anjuman-e- Haidri. The court has given nod for that in 2005 but Police and DDA did not let it happen.
The Waqf Board filed contempt plea in HC in 2007. While hearing the plea, the court pulled the NDMC and Police and directed to get repair and walling works done. But again the court order fell on the deaf ears.
In 2010, Waqf Board once again went to HC seeking justice and court on the basis of proofs allowed the repairing of the Masjid.
“On one hand DDA and police demolished Jangpura Masjid in wee hours referring court’s order and on the other hand they had not been following court order in the case of Qanati Masjid. What is it if not blatant discrimination against Muslims?” asked Mr. Naqvi.
Recent incident
On 26th Dec. 2010, following the court order some members of the Muslim community were cleaning the Masjid while some others including women were busy in prayer. It was when that on the complaint of RWA a large number of Police came and arrested 85 people including women and children and put them in lock-up for 8 hours.
This act of police sent a wave of anger among Muslims across the country. The protest rallies were held at several parts of the country including a rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi where 2571 people courted arrest. Shahi Imam Maulana Ahmad Bukhari, LJP MLA Shoib Iqbal, RJD MLA Asif Mohammad Khan strongly raised the voice against the incident and met CM Sheila Dikshit on the matter. She assured them to solve the matter and directed the officer of concerned departments but it also did not make any difference and the matter remained unsolved.
In the first week of January 2011, a petition was filed in the HC against the non-compliance of the court order and illegal action of the police. The HC issued notices to all parties involved in the case to appear before the court. While hearing the petition on 18th Jan. the court clearly pronounced that the land is owned by Waqf Board and directed the local police to get the repairing work done in its care. But unfortunately the police rather than implementing the court order arrested Muslims for cleaning the Masjid.
Some questions
Some questions arise here: Why has the police been violating the court orders so many times? Who are behind the curtain and backing police for such condemnable deed? Does government itself has two faces –one for Muslims and another for anti-Muslims. Does the court has no power to curb such violating act or whole system is working against Muslims?