Eidgah land dispute intensifies as Hindutva outfits take a plunge
Around 50 members of Hindu Samaj Sangharsh Samiti on Tuesday protested the encroachment of a 2.75-acre piece of land in Palam Vihar by a minority community. Siddhartha Rai reports.
Around 50 members of Hindu Samaj Sangharsh Samiti on Tuesday protested the encroachment of a 2.75-acre piece of land in Palam Vihar by a minority community.
The members of the samiti, a group consisting representatives of various Hindutva organisation, are contesting that the land in Block E belongs to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda).
They say the land had been reclaimed on June 10 by the authority after it razed the illegal structures of Eidgah.
Representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Vahini, Arya Kendra Sabha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) raised anti-government slogans at the Mini Secretariat after giving a memorandum to deputy commissioner (DC) Shekhar Vidyarthi.
"This is Huda land. It had recognised the illegal encroachment over it by the Chauma Masjid Intezamia Committee. But the land has again been encroached upon; a tent has been installed and prayers are going on there…we will not let this happen," said Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, BJP general secretary, Gurgaon.
The group claimed that it has given the administration time till Monday, otherwise it would be compelled to take action.
The land originally belonged to the Wakf board, but was acquired by Huda in 2007. Despite this, the Haryana Wakf board entrusted the land with Suhel Khan, head of Chauma Masjid Intezamia Committee.
Khan told the authorities that Muslims have been using the land for offering prayers on Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha for many years now.
"After the demolition of Eidgah, we had gone and met the Haryana chief minister. He had ordered the DC to look into the matter and return the land to the Wakf board through proper procedure. The administration is in the process of de-notifying the land. The chief minister had also told them to put a fence around the land to prevent animals from entering," said Khan.