The area of Seelampur, or Brahmpuri in North-East Delhi, is in the headlines again, and for the wrong reasons, again. The tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities over the expansion of the Al Matin mosque has been brewing for the past few weeks. Holika Dahan is observed every year by the Hindus in an area that is opposite to the mosque, but this year, Holi is falling during the month of Ramzan and on the day of Jumma Namaz. The locals are apprehensive about potential clashes, even violence and not without reason.
The Hindus in the area remember the 2020 anti-Hindu riots in Delhi, where the same Seelampur area saw massive violence and there were even reports of bullets being fired from the Al-Matin mosque. Is this densely populated locality in Delhi really becoming a hub of Islamic radicalism? Or is this just a politically motivated ‘claim’? We went to the ground to find out.
Mosque expansion and ‘house for sale’ posters
The Al-Matin mosque was already functional and running in a 4-story house in the Gali No 13. Recently, plans were made for its expansion. An adjacent plot has been purchased from a Hindu family for this purpose; their house was demolished and the area has been marked for the mosque expansion.
The local Hindus have concerns. “A bigger mosque can accommodate a mob twice the size of 2020 riots”, they say. 60 Hindu families have houses in the adjacent street, Gali No 12. The mosque expansion plan has them triggered. This is the reason roughly half (around 25-30) houses have already put up posters declaring ‘house for sale’.
Pandit Shankar Lal Gautam, the complainant against the mosque expansion project says, “The proposed construction is illegal. The MCD has been misled to pass the plan and map of the mosque. There is a Shiv Temple nearby. The expanded mosque’s gate will open right before it. Two communities will be face-to-face on every religious festival. We don’t want anything like 2020 (riots) to happen again.
Shankar Lal says the plan is for demographic change in the name of mosque expansion. Whichever houses of the Hindus have been sold, the buyers are all Muslims.
Anti-Hindu riots of 2020: the wounds are still raw
The anti-Hindu Delhi riots of 2020 are fresh in everyone’s memory here. 53 persons were killed in the areas of Seelampur, Jafrabad and other localities of North East Delhi. Hundreds were injured. Locals claim that bullets were fired from the Al Matin mosque and a mob of hundreds had gathered there during the violence. OpIndia had covered the riots extensively.
आपको 2020 के हिंदू विरोधी दंगे याद हैं? पूर्वी दिल्ली में हिंदुओं को निशाना बनाकर हमले किए गए। हमलावर एक ही स्टाइल में मस्जिदों से निकल कर हिंदुओं की बस्तियों की ओर बढ़े। आज ब्रह्मपुरी की जिस अल-मतीन मस्जिद का विस्तार हो रहा है, वहां से हजारों मुस्लिमों की भीड़ ने धावा बोला था। pic.twitter.com/aF5Ltz2KPV
— Shravan Shukla (@epatrakaar) March 7, 2025
The demographics of the Brahmapuri area has changed significantly since then. Hindus started selling off their houses and relocating. Local resident Dinesh Sharma (name changed) says, “Everything for us changed after 2020 anti-Hindu riots. We lost loved ones and saw our people suffer. The expansion of the mosque creates similar fears in us. What will happen in case another communal violence breaks out?” Many Hindu families from Gali No 12 shared similar concerns.
Muslims say, ‘the controversy is baseless”
Deputy Imam Saddam Hussain of the Al Matin mosque talked to us. He said, “The plot was donated to us. We need a bigger mosque because the number of Muslims coming to the mosque in the area has increased. What is wrong in it? Nobody is forcing anyone to sell houses here. People are selling because they are getting good prices.
Hussain further added,”The plot where the construction is taking place, is for a community centre, not for mosque.” However, locals say the alleged community centre will be a part of the mosque itself. The local Muslims also insist that the claims of communal violence are unfounded and they allow Holika Dahan every year in front of the mosque. Local Hindus disagree. A woman says, “Everyone knows what happened in 2020. We saw what happened. What if they get violent again?”
Holi Vs Ramzan
Holi is on 24th March this year, coninciding with Jumma Namaz in the month of Ramzan. The local Hindus are apprehensive about Holika Dahan in front of the mosque. Ajay Kumar from Gali No 12 says, “There are policemen now. What if they leave, or unavailable? Everything appeared ‘normal and peaceful’ in the days leading to 2020 riots too. nobody expected the violence. We don’t want to risk the safety of our families”. Ajay’s eyes widen with fear when he speaks about his children.
It is notable here that the Al Matin mosque used to operate from a private residence. Eventually, the residential house was converted into a mosque. It was donated as ‘Jakaat’ in the name of an Islamic organisation. The mosque in Gali No 13 is 10-12 years old. It has been built gradually from a residential house to the current 4-story structure. Holika Dahan has been happening in the area for years before that.
The adjacent plot to the mosque is accessible and is connected to Gali No 12. A small passage joins Gali No 12 and 13. The new gate of the mosque could have been made towards the passage, but attempts have been made to designed in a way that it opens towards Gali No 12 where there is a Shiv temple. Hindus have objected to that. The Shiv Temple was constructed in 1984. Local Hindus have been paying there and observing festivals for decades.
Police and MCD action
The police has acted upon the complaints and concerns and have increased patrolling in the area. The MCD has halted the construction work for the mosque extension. A show cause notice has been sent to the Al Matin Society. There are allegations that the proposed extension has been passed with false information. Police say that both communities in the area want peace, and no untoward incidents have been reported. However, the local BJP councillor says nobody will be allowed to trigger violence in the area and the exodus of Hindus will not happen.
Demographic change are strategic?
Hindus believe that the construction of the larger mosque area is ‘modus operandi’. They say the mosque comes first, then the people in the area change, the general atmosphere changes, the circumstances change. Eventually the mosque grows and Hindus get displaced. “We have seen it in 2020 and after that. There was harmony and peace before. But 2020 happened and suddenly everything changed”, says an elderly Hindu man.
The Gali No 12 and 13 in the Brahmapuri area come under Maujpur Ward No 228. 3 Hindu youth were injured in the firing after the 2020 anti-Hindu riots on February 25.
Hindus have been gradually leaving the area after seling their properties. Local Muslims deny the riots affect. They say the Hindus are selling houses because they are getting good prices. Hindus say they do not want to live in the area because a lot has changed after the riots.
The reasons are multi-fold. The Hindus cannot forget the 2020 riots. They are apprehensive about the changing demographics and they firmly believe that the extension of the mosque is a sign of changing times. They fear the numbers are stacked against them and the current “peace” is merely a fleeting pause.
This is first in a series of ground reports from the area. The Hindi version of the above article can be read here.
