Old Asharodi Mosque locked by forest authorities

Old Asharodi Mosque locked by forest authorities

S.M.A. KAZMI

Dehradun, Sept 23

None of the residents particularly old residents of Doon valley travelling towards Mohand had missed a small mosque near the Ashrodi police check post. The mosque which is believed to be more than a hundred years old has been locked by the Uttarakhand Forest authorities as part of the ‘Anti- Muslim’ campaign launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government led by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

The forest authorities along with a large police force and a bulldozer descended on the tiny mosque and ordered the Imam of the mosque to take out his belongings. The mosque was subsequently sealed despite protest by the representatives of the Muslim community. The old mosque situated on forest land was also part of the plan of the state government for demolition as part of Chief Minister Dhami’s campaign against “Mazar Jehad” in which more than six hundred mazars and other religious structures were demolished since last year.

Razia Baig, a former Chairperson of Bar Council, Uttarakhand, Latafat Hussain, a senior Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) leader, Nayeem Quraishy of Muslim Sewa Sangathan and Khushid Ahmed, a resident of Majra village knocked at the doors of Nainital High Court against the demolition orders but failed to get any positive order. They filed a civil appeal in the Supreme Court. A bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma disposing of the civil appeal in its’ order dated September 3, 2025 ruled,” Leave granted. Though the impugned order has been sought to be challenged on different grounds, we are not inclined to accept the same.

However, upon perusing the records, including the map produced by the learned senior counsel appearing for the appellants, and the reply filed by the respondent(s) which is rather vague and inconclusive insofar as the age of the mosque is concerned, we pass an order to the effect that the structure existing in the form of a mosque, being sufficiently old, shall not be demolished.

However, the said structure shall not be used by anyone for any religious purpose. We make it clear that in the event of any attempt being made by anyone to enter into the mosque, it will be open to the respondent(s) to take appropriate action. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly.”

The Muslim representatives protested against the sealing done by the authorities and argued that the Apex court has not ordered the sealing of the old mosque. They said that there are non-religious activities like taking care of the mosque which are not prohibited by the impugned order. Although, the forest officials removed the seals but locked the mosque. They also dug a trench to prevent anyone from entering the mosque and also removed the board off the mosque.

Interestingly, there are Hindu temples across the state in forest including the most revered Purnagiri temple in Champawat district but no action has been taken against those.

Khurshid Ahmed one of the petitioner in the case charged that the digging a trench and locking the mosque was against the order of the Supreme Court. All the four petitioners have written to the forest authorities against the action taken today.