Dispute over mosque: Uttarakhand HC asks authorities to maintain peace in Uttarkashi

Nainital: The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the Uttarkashi district administration to maintain law and order in the town while keeping it informed on the situation after a dispute over a local mosque came to light.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Vivek Bharti issued the directions to the Uttarkashi district magistrate and the superintendent of police while hearing a petition on November 27 demanding safety of the mosque on Bhatwari Road in Uttarkashi.

The mosque, built decades ago, belongs to the Sunni community.

The petitioner said a mahapanchayat, protesting against the mosque, was proposed on December 1 and sought the court's intervention not to allow it.

Appearing on behalf of the state government, Deputy Advocate General J S Virk submitted that the administration had not granted permissions for the mahapanchayat.

Day and night patrolling was being carried out to maintain law and order and the situation in the town was normal, he claimed.

The petition filed by an organisation called Alpasankhyak Seva Samiti of Uttarkashi alleged that since September 24, some organisations had been threatening to demolish the mosque, claiming it was illegal.

Communal tensions were brewing in the town because of it, the petition said, seeking protection of the mosque.

The petition further claimed that the mosque was built on the land purchased in 1969 and the Waqf commissioner inspected it in 1986 and found it to be legal.

The petitioner's advocate Kartikeya Hari Gupta informed the court that provocative statements in violation of the Supreme Court order were being made by the organisations seeking the mosque's demolition.

The Supreme Court ordered all the states to file a case directly if inflammatory statements against any caste, religion or community, were resorted to, he argued.

The lawyer submitted while a failure to do so would violate the Supreme Court order, the state government had not yet filed any case against anyone in this matter violating the SC mandate.

The next hearing is on December 5.

An outfit, namely, Sanyukt Hindu Sangathan, allegedly resorted to stone-pelting during a protest rally demanding the mosque's demolition in October, forcing the police to use mild lathi-charge to disperse the mob. The clashes, which erupted when the police tried to divert the route of the rally, left 27 persons including seven policemen injured.

The outfit claims the mosque was built illegally on government land.