By Sajida Zubair
HYDERABAD: The miscreants who bulldozed the 200-year-old Qutub Shahi Masjid, known as Masjid-e-Jagirdar, in Chilkur village of Cyberabad-Rangareddy district of Telangana, used the same modus operandi that was used in connection with the pulling down of the 600-year-old Akhundji Masjid in Mehrauli area of New Delhi a few months ago.
The only difference is that while police bulldozed Mehrauli mosque in association with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials by forcibly removing the mosque Imam and students of the madrasa run from the premises of the mosque on the pretext that it was an encroachment on the government land, the Telangana mosque was bulldozed by unknown miscreants.
In both cases, those involved in the demolition of the mosques removed debris from the site of the mosque and levelled the ground to erase every evidence of the mosque or a building on the site. In the case of Akhundji mosque, the policemen even dug out the stones from the mosque’s foundation to destroy all evidence about the existence of the mosque.
While Akhundji mosque was bulldozed in full view of the public with hundreds of security personnel deployed all around the mosque, the unknown miscreants demolished the Masjid-e-Jagir covertly and without anyone coming to know about it.
As the Masjid-e-Jagir was unoccupied and five times daily prayers were not held as the mosque was about one kilometre away from the Chilkur village proper, no one came to know about the exact date and timings when the mosque was demolished. There is no habitation around the Masjid-e-Jagir located amidst agricultural farms with trees and shrubs all around.
The Muslim residents of Chilkur village came to know about the incident on July 22, 2024, only when two village boys Mohammed Ahmed and Salim visited the area where the mosque stood. The boys were surprised when they did not see the mosque. Immediately, they went to Layeekhunnissa, the mutawalli(caretaker) of the Chilkur village mosque, Eidgah, and a Muslim graveyard and informed her about the sudden disappearance of the mosque. Layeekhunnissa called up Shaikh Liyaqat Husain, a Wakf Board official, who visited the site immediately. “On Wakf official’s direction, I filed the FIR in the Moinabad Police Station on the evening of July 22, 2024,” she told this news portal.
She said the mosque in question is documented as Masjid-e-Jagir in the Telangana State Waqf Board, in survey numbers 133 and 134 of Chilkur village.
Layeekhunnissa said that on the demand of the local Muslims, a tent was erected by the Wakf board on the site of the Masjid on July 22. Muslims performed Isha prayers on July 22 and Fajr, Zuhr, Asar, and Maghrib prayers on July 23. But the police prevented the holding of Isha’s namaz and promulgated Section 144 prohibiting the assembly of four or more persons around the demolished mosque site, under pressure from those behind the mosque’s demolition.
“Muslims have now been prevented from offering namaz at the demolished mosque site following complaints from the rival side who claim that no mosque was ever there on the site,” she said. She alleged that even the Waqf board officials have now told her not to intervene in the matter because it is a Waqf issue and the Waqf board officials would handle the matter.
“If Waqf Board officials did not want her to raise the issue, why did they permit her to file an FIR in the first place? The fact is that I asked the Waqf official Liyaqat Hussain to file an FIR on behalf of the Waqf Board but he insisted that I should file the FIR on my own behalf. And now, the Waqf department is asking me to keep away from it,” she said while talking to this portal.
Layeekhunnissa said, “We don’t know when the incident took place as the entire vicinity around the masjid is covered with trees. I was informed by Mohammad Ahmed, son of Late Md Ibrahim and a resident of Chilkur village, who noticed while passing by that the structure of Jagirdar Masjid was no longer present.”
The FIR filed by her mentions the culprits as ‘Prasad and his henchmen’ and also mentions that ‘‘the demolition of the masjid appears to be done with the intention of inciting enmity between the communities. They criminally trespassed into the masjid and demolished it.” Layeekhunnisa clarified that Chilkur village is a peaceful community with no history of communal hatred.
She suggested that this act appears to be related to an illegal land deal between two parties, despite the land belonging to the Waqf Board. Prasad, who owns adjacent land, was allegedly responsible for the demolition, aided by his associates. She added that this incident must be taken seriously and action should be taken against the miscreants.
When the information reached Amjed Ullah Khan, the spokesperson for Majlis Bachao Tehreek(MBT), he rushed to the scene to assess the situation and was informed by several locals that the demolition was a deliberate act of vandalism, as the dismantled materials from the masjid were discarded, indicating intentional malice.
Mr. Khan without delay contacted Azmath Ullah Hussaini, Chairman of the Waqf Board, and Sri Srinivas Reddy, DCP of Rajendra Nagar, Cyberabad Commissionerate, to report the incident. Meanwhile, Tafseer Iqubal, IPS, Secretary of the Minority Welfare Department of Telangana State, and Faheem Qureshi, Chairman of Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society (TMRIES), also arrived at the Moinabad Police Station. A formal complaint was lodged, resulting in the seizure of the bulldozer used in the demolition and the arrest of one individual.
This tragic incident highlights the need for vigilance and prompt action to protect historical and religious sites. The community’s swift response and the authorities’ involvement demonstrate a commitment to justice and communal harmony, emphasizing that such acts of vandalism will not be tolerated.
