On the morning of 10th December, the rear portion of Noori Jama Masjid, which is situated in Sadar Bazar of Lalauli town in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, was taken down because of encroachment related to a drain construction project. ADM Avinash Tripathi and ASP Vijay Shankar Mishra were in attendance throughout the process along with a sizable police presence, including the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) to ensure law and order in the region.
On 24th September (17th August per other reports), the Masjid Committee received a notice from the PWD department while surveying for the construction of a drain. According to the reports, 133 homes and businesses, as well as the back side of the mosque, were illegal. The Masjid Committee had asked for a month to clear the construction, but they didn’t complete it in the time frame.
In a rush to widen roads, the @UPGovt's PW Dept is presently demolishing an alleged 'unauthorised' part of the 180-year-old Noori Jama Masjid in #Fatehpur, even as a petition challenging the demolition is still pending in the #AllahabadHighCourt. pic.twitter.com/xV1vFHYEbK
— Sparsh Upadhyay (@ISparshUpadhyay) December 10, 2024
A bulldozer was employed to remove the unlawful portion of the mosque. The RAF, PAC and revenue team were stationed on-site for security and regular movement was restricted there. According to ASP Vijay Shankar Mishra, the demolition was executed in a peaceful manner and solely targeted the area at the back of the building that was found to be unauthorized. However, Syed Noori, the secretary of the Noori Jama Masjid Committee, claimed that the demolition went against a writ that had been filed against the notice in the Allahabad High Court and was set for hearing on 13th December. According to him, the action was equivalent to contempt of court.
The management committee of the Noori Jama Masjid had approached the Allahabad High Court against the state government’s road widening project and appealed that PWD’s plan to demolish a part of the mosque for the road widening project will harm a vital section of the mosque and it must be stopped. The mosque is around 180 years old. The petition also sought to acknowledge it as a heritage site and alleged that the demolition would cause ‘irreparable harm’ to the nation’s cultural heritage and local communities.
