Sanjauli mosque row: Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti takes out funeral procession of state government

Shimla: The members of Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti, sitting on hunger strike for the past 12 days to press their demand for immediate sealing and discontinuation of water and electricity to the unauthorised Sanjauli mosque here on Saturday, took out a funeral procession of the state government.

The Samiti also decided to boycott the meeting with the district administration on Saturday, as no written invitation was received by the administration, and burnt the effigy of the state government near the Sanjauli police chowki.

Last Friday, a large number of Hindu organisations demonstrated outside the Sanjauli police station, blocking the road for about 10 minutes and following assurance from the administration that their demands would be accepted, a meeting was scheduled for Saturday.

"The invitation for the meeting should have been official", said Co-convenor of the Samiti Vijay Sharma, who accused the administration of lying and said that the committee has decided to boycott the meeting and cautioned that the agitation would be intensified in times to come.

The Samiti members said that the hunger strike would not continue and they would wait for the court's judgement. The Waqf Board had on Friday moved to the high court, challenging the district court's order declaring the shrine as unauthorised.

A decision on the maintainability of this writ petition is expected on Monday.

The district court, on October 30, upheld the Shimla Municipal Commissioner Court's decision to demolish the mosque, declaring it as unauthorised.

The Waqf Board and the mosque committee had earlier challenged the orders of the municipal court in the district court. The court upheld the decision and ordered the demolition of the illegal structure by December 30.

The samiti members had asked the members of the Muslim community to refrain from visiting the mosque for Friday prayers. However, a few Muslim devotees visited the mosque on Friday and despite tension, there was no untoward incident.

"Prayers are being offered in the structure, despite the court declaring it illegal and passing orders to demolish it, which is very unfortunate," Sharma said.

The Samiti office bearers were also demanding the withdrawal of the FIR against its members, who were booked for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.

On November 14, Members of the Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti allegedly prevented some Muslims from offering prayers at the Sanjauli mosque, following arguments that took place between members of two communities and as the dispute escalated, some people returned without offering prayers.