This time around, the justification was traffic worries. It appeared instead half-baked, thinking about the historic Sunehri mosque had stood at the junction in New Delhi for a minimum of 150 years with nary a problem. Yet last summer season, the New Delhi Municipal Corp (NDMC) deemed the landmark a traffic hazard and scheduled its demolition
The NDMC’s choice provoked outrage– 6, 000 emails from heritage guardians and Muslim companies vehemently objecting the activity flooded NDMC’s servers. The Delhi Waqf Board (DWB), a payment that carries out Muslim sites in New Delhi, submitted a complaint to the Delhi High Court. It was dismissed on December 18, stimulating a union of scholars and lawyers, along with the Indian Civil Liberties Union, to write the NDMC, pointing out the historic relevance of the mosque and offering alternative services to the supposed traffic trouble.
The Sunehri mosque is, according to chronicler S. Irfan Habib, “not just a mosque, it has a background that is carefully related to several of our liberty competitors. Hasrat Mohani, member of our Constituent Assembly, utilized to remain here while attending the meetings. Care for its renowned background.”
India’s company of chroniclers, the Indian History Congress, called NDMC’s decision “unacceptable and unwise” and claimed that there has actually been a “continuous attempt to erode our medieval building heritage in recent times.”
The mosque, popular for its distinct and fantastic architecture, has stood for generations as a monolith to common spiritual regard between Hindus and Muslims however is now the most up to date in a pattern where Muslim divine sites are targeted for damage.
Over 30 years back, the 16 th-century Babri Mosque in northeastern India was the subject of years of debate over whether it was erected over an old Hindu shrine. Then, in 1992, it was taken apart by a mob. In the taking place troubles, at least 2, 000 died– the majority of them Muslim. A new Hindu holy place opened on the website in January 2024 RSS, the team that prompted the physical violence, was banned for some years, but given that the Hindu nationalist political event Bharatiya Janata came to power in 2014, the group, together with the Hindu nationalist company Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has set its views on leveling mosques.
The pattern is that a mosque obtains targeted, the RSS or similar groups will certainly advocate numerous years for its destruction, documents applications, and the mosque after that either is or isn’t torn down. Last year saw a request to transfer the historical Gyanvapi Mosque to Hindu possession because a Hindu temple preceded the mosque. Petitions have actually been submitted on the same rationale relating to the Shahi Idgah Mosque southeast of New Delhi and the Quwwatul Islam Mosque in the city.
On January 30, New Delhi’s Akhoondji Mosque was taken apart, together with its adjacent Islamic college, burial ground and Sufi shrine– all on the insurance claim that the 600 -year-old holy place was an unlawful structure. The DWB protested that the NDMC had offered inadequate warning that the mosque was targeted for demolition.
According to reporter Kaisar Andrabi, “The campaign against historic mosques parallels the Modi [Indian Prime Minister] government’s initiative to redefine Indian-ness as essentially Hindu, interfering with the country’s long-standing dedication to secularism and intimidating to relegate Muslims to second-class citizenship.”
After the New Delhi High Court disregarded the DWB’s appeal, Sunehri mosque’s imam, Abdul Aziz, submitted a request to limit the NDMC from destroying the site, arguing that NDMC had acted in negative faith and that it had actually stopped working to produce any kind of proof revealing that the structure caused traffic congestion.
Aziz, whose daddy and grandfather also served as the mosque’s imam, remembers his childhood years at your home of prayer when then-Prime Preacher Indira Gandhi would pass by the mosque and in some cases wave.
Jibran Ahmad, a regular site visitor to the mosque, commented, “The new India seems to acquire more joy from the demolition of mosques than the building of new holy places. It’s not simply Muslims. Mosques are similarly based on hate.”
The destiny of the Sunehri Mosque is still up in the air. As of February 28, the Delhi Traffic Police informed the high court that they had actually referred the matter to the Heritage Conservation Committee.
_________________
From its beginnings, the Church of Scientology has acknowledged that freedom of religion is an essential human right. In a world where conflicts are usually traceable to intolerance of others’ religious beliefs and methods, the Church has, for more than 70 years, made the preservation of religious freedom an overriding issue.
The Church releases this blog site to aid develop a much better understanding of the freedom of religion and belief and supply information on religious liberty and problems influencing this liberty worldwide.
The Founder of the Scientology religious beliefs is L. Ron Hubbard and Mr. David Miscavige is the religion’s ecclesiastical leader.
To learn more, see the Scientology site or Scientology Network