By Syed Khalique Ahmed & Sumaya Junaid Ahmed
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has scheduled the next hearing for December 2, 2024, in the case concerning the Masjid Ghareeb Shah near the Divisional Railway Manager’s office in Paharganj and another mosque located between platforms 2 and 3 at the New Delhi railway station. Both mosques predate the New Delhi Railway station.
The court set the new date in response to a petition filed by the Save India Foundation (regd), a radical Hindu outfit that claims to have initiated legal actions to remove more than four dozen mosques in Delhi, arguing they were constructed illegally.
Although both mosques are managed by the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB), the foundation has named the Rail Land Development Authority, the Railway Ministry, and the Divisional Railway Manager (New Delhi Railway Station) as respondents, despite none of these entities owning the mosques or the land they occupy. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind assistant secretary Inamurrahman Khan looking after waqf affairs said that it was a trick on the part of the petitioners to keep the mosque property trustees in dark and get a removal order from the court by making railway authorities as owner of properties on which the mosques stand.
Upon learning of the development through the mosques’ Imams, DWB’s legal representatives filed petitions opposing the foundation’s complaints, asserting that the foundation lacks the legal standing to bring such cases. Furthermore, the railway authorities should not be parties to the litigation, as the mosques and the land they occupy do not belong to the Ministry of Railways.
The foundation argues that the two mosques were built illegally on railway land and should be removed. However, the DWB contends that the mosques are registered waqf properties, each approximately 300 years old, existing long before the establishment of the New Delhi railway station.
Preet Singh is also demanding abolition of Waqf Act, 1995.
Maulana Azam, the Imam of the Garib Shah Mosque, emphasized the historical and cultural significance of the mosque, stating, “The mosque is 300 years old and a property of the Delhi Waqf Board.” He added that the DWB has been responsible for the mosque’s maintenance and administration, as part of its duty to manage religious endowments.
The mosque has been recognized as a place of worship for over a hundred years, as evidenced by a Delhi Gazette notification dated November 27, 1970. In 2012-14, the mosque’s Imam wrote multiple times to the railway ministry and authorities, asking for permission to renovate the mosque. However, permission was denied by the railway authorities.
The Facebook page of the Save India Foundation, led by Preet Sirohi, claims that he has initiated legal actions to remove 54 mosques, allegedly illegally constructed, across various locations in Delhi. These include the two mosques at Delhi Railway Station, Jahangirpuri D Block Masjid, Masjid Noor Ilahi in Shalimar Bagh, Nisaria Masjid in New Seemapuri, Jama Masjid in East of Kailash (near the Okhla fruit and vegetable market), the mosque on Shahdara Railway Station Road, Indralok Masjid, and a mosque over a water channel in Seelampur. Through a new post on his Facebook page today, he vows to file cases against 30 other mosques in Delhi.
The same foundation organized a Hindu Mahapanchayat at Burari Grounds in northwest Delhi on April 3, 2022, where hate speeches were delivered against Muslims. An FIR filed by the Delhi Police stated that Dasna Devi temple priest Yati Narsinghanand and Sudarshan TV chief editor Suresh Chavhanke gave highly provocative speeches against Muslims. The FIR noted that Preet Singh organized the event without police permission and provided a platform for promoting enmity and differences between two religions, potentially inciting hatred. Legal action was recommended against them.
(Click on this Faceboopk page of Save India Foundation of Preet Singh to know his anti-Muslim activities. https://www.facebook.com/joinsif? mibextid=qi2Omg&rdid=2ygWZl36A0AMA6kf&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2FFsTb722F7PwSje9h%2F%3Fmibextid%3Dqi2Omg.)
The event was attended by about 700-800 people and received extensive media coverage. According to reports, Meer Faisal of The Hindustan Gazette, photojournalist Md Meharban, and Newslaundry journalists Shivangi Saxena and Ronak Bhat were assaulted at the event. Arbab Ali from Article 14, Meghnad Bose from The Quint, and another journalist who wished to remain anonymous, were verbally abused.
In a previous incident at Jantar Mantar in August 2021, Preet Singh was arrested for making hate speeches against Muslims and providing a platform for others to do the same. He had organized the event without police permission but was later released on bail.
