After Dharavi, Tensions Erupt Over 'Illegal' Portion Of Mosque In Maharashtra's Pune

Days after the tensions in Dharavi, chaos erupted in Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad area late on Sunday after the Municipal Corporation authorities demolished an illegally-built hall in the locality of a mosque in Kalewadi-Thergaon's Pawarnagar.

As many as 2,500 police personnel were deployed at the location at the time of the demolition, blocking all entries to the road except for the area's residents.

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) demolished the structure in the early hours of Monday and situation normalised by noon, officials were cited as saying by the Hindustan Times.

A senior civic body official said there was no action on any mosque as alleged by some leaders, clarifying that it was just one hall constructed in the madrasa's vicinity.

"The illegal hall was recently constructed by the trustee of the educational institute. PCMC has issued multiple notices to them in the past requesting to stop the illegal construction. However, after multiple notices and requests the structure was not removed so action was taken," the official was cited as saying.

A trustee of the madrasa claimed that the religious school had been operating from the same place since 2002 and were carrying out a concrete construction now. "The land is owned by us which was purchased in 2001," the trustee added.

He further noted that the area in which the mosque/madrasa is located that comes under the Pimpri Chinchwad Navnagar Development Authority (PCNDA) along with several other properties in the area.

The trustee said that these properties cannot be legalised, so they had asked the municipal corporation about how they can do it, adding that they even were ready to pay the penalties in case there were any. He said that PCMC did not respond to them and instead, directly took the action.

Deputy commissioner of Police (Crime) Pimpri Chinchwad, Sandip Doifode, had said, "The team handled the situation sensibly and the police protection was provided for the action. No law-and-order issue was reported, and the situation is under control."

Meanwhile, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and raised questions over the civic body's action.

Owaisi noted that the masjid in Thergaon Kalewadi in Pimpri-Chinchwad has been existing for the last 25 years, adding that there are nearly thousand houses adjacent to the Masjid and they also do not have permission. But, he said, "only Masjid Daruloolm Jamia Inamiya is being demolished".

"Sir @mieknathshinde why this discrimination only for a Masjid, what about houses which also have No permission. Right Wing Hindutva organisations have give complaint only for Masjid to be demolished," the AIMIM president added in his X post.

This development came in the backdrop of the ongoing demolition of an unauthorised portion of a mosque in Mumbai's Dharavi. An office bearer of the trust which manages the mosque said that a report on demolition has been submitted to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

"Since the mosque is surrounded by slums, it might take some time for the demolition to be completed," he told news agency PTI.

Several hundreds of residents ad blocked the arterial 90-feet road in Dharavi to stop a BMC team from demolishing the mosque's illegal portions on September 21.

Following this, talks were held between the mosque trustees and the BMC authorities, wherein the former submitted a written request to the civic body's deputy and assistant commissioners, asking for 4-5 days of time to remove these portions.

Earlier, a massive case of clash over an alleged illegally constructued portion of mosque had erupted in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla in Sanjauli area. Protests had taken place in Mandi and its nearby areas, prompting police to use water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse the agitators.

Later the mosque authorities had told the municipal corporation that if the portion is proved illegal then they themselves would demolish it, adding that they do not want any communal clash to take place because of this.

In a similar case yet again, protests erupted in Himachal's Kullu over an alleged illegally constructed mosques. Hindu right groups carried out a yatra in Kullu demanding the demolition of the mosque, however a Muslim organisation said that there was no illegal mosques in the state.

The demand for the demolition came after a scuffle broke out between a Muslim barber and a Hindu businessman in Malyana area of Shimla's suburbs on August 30, turning the entire tiff into a communal issue.

Meanwhile, Muslim Welfare Committee, Mandi president Naheem Ahmed told news agency PTI, "No mosque in Himachal Pradesh is illegal but there has been a delay in getting the maps approved and other related processes. We would ourselves remove the structures if found illegal."

Muslim leaders were of the view that some people were spreading hatred, he said, adding that such practices should be curbed.