Delhi's Shalimar Bagh demolition drive razes Madina Mosque, houses for road project

A demolition drive was carried out in Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh area amid a heavy police presence, with the Medina Mosque and some houses on the road among the structures targeted in the action.

The demolition was carried out as part of a road-widening drive. Similar demolition action had earlier been carried out on the same road as part of the widening exercise.

DEMOLITION DRIVE IN SHALIMAR BAGH

The demolition action took place on the road near Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh, where the Medina Mosque and some surrounding houses were demolished.

A large number of police personnel were deployed in the area during the action.

The development came after previous demolition action had also been carried out along the same road in connection with its widening.

AIMIM LEADER REACHES SPOT

After receiving information about the demolition action at the mosque, AIMIM Delhi Pradesh president Shoeb Jamai reached the spot.

Reacting to the action, Jamai alleged that demolishing the mosque in the middle of the night was unconstitutional. Referring to a previous demolition at a mosque in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, he said Shalimar Bagh would not be allowed to become "Saharanpur Part 2".

Jamai also alleged that the mosque’s imam was not given time to remove documents, copies of the Quran kept inside the mosque before the demolition and were reduced to rubble. He strongly condemned the action.

Shoeb Jamai said his team was stopped and briefly detained when they tried to reach the site. He questioned why they were not allowed to meet local residents or see the affected area.

Jamai said the action was carried out around midnight, when, according to him, the government was able to proceed on its own terms.

He also said that AIMIM had always stood up for people, but alleged that no other political party was present at the site during the demolition.

The demolition drive was carried out amid heavy police deployment in the Shalimar Bagh area.