Ujjain Shahi Masjid Not Being Demolished, Says MP Waqf Chief

Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board chairman Sanwar Patel has issued a statement on the dispute over Ujjain’s Shahi Masjid, saying that the mosque is neither being demolished nor being relocated.

Responding to the controversy, Patel said only the portion of the mosque that is coming in the way of the widening work is being removed, and that too by the community and the mosque committee themselves. He said the administration is not carrying out the removal.

According to Patel, a meeting was held with the administration in which the city qazi and several senior members of the Muslim community took part. He said it was decided last night that members of the community would remove that portion of the mosque themselves, and the administration would not do it. Patel said the ongoing removal of that portion is happening in line with that decision.

Patel also said some people are trying to mislead and provoke people over the matter. “I want to tell such people: do not provoke the people of the community,” he said. He added that whatever was decided jointly by the administration and senior members of the community is what is being done, and only that much will be done.

Patel also responded to Asaduddin Owaisi’s statement on the issue. He said Owaisi had linked the incident to the new Waqf Bill and had said that mosques were being removed in Madhya Pradesh.

“I want to tell Owaisi sahib that the Shahi Masjid is not being removed. Do not provoke people,” Patel said. He questioned why the Waqf law was being brought into the matter, saying there is nothing in the law that stops anyone from raising their voice for their rights or going to court.

Patel said that in this case too, the committee connected with the mosque and the Panch Mochiyan society had gone to court. However, he said that in the end, keeping the interests of the city and the community in mind, members of the community sat with the administration and decided to remove some parts of the mosque, including some shops and a minaret.

He again urged Owaisi not to provoke people and not to bring the Waqf Bill into the issue.

Patel made one more appeal to those who, he said, are coming from outside and trying to provoke people and spread lies. He asked them not to do so, warning that otherwise the law would do its work and they would face trouble in the future.