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Delhi: Illegal portions of madrasa razed in Bengali Market area
In the last couple of months, authorities have removed illegal portions at several religious structures including temples and mosques
The Land and Development Office (L&DO), under the Union urband development ministry, demolished a wall and portions of seveal rooms that were illegally constructed at a residential madrasa in Bengali Market area, officials aware of the matter said.
Officials said the drive began around 6.20am and lasted for several hours. They said the anti-encroachment exercise was carried out amid heavy police presence. They added that some illegal constructions at the madrasa were removed, but there was no damage to the prayer area inside the mosque.
L&DO officials did not issue a formal comment or a statement on the anti-encroachment drive despite repeated attempts to seek a reaction.
Delhi has seen multiple encroachment removal drives related to religious structures in the last couple of months. The Public Works Department (PWD) removed unauthorised religious structures including temples and mosques at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg near ITO and an encroachment removal action was conducted at the site of an old dargah near Hazrat Nizamuddin in south Delhi on April 1.
Last Friday, the New Delhi Municipal Council carried out an encroachment removal drive on mazars, located opposite Sunehri Bagh mosque near Udyog Bhawan.
Vice-chairman of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which administers the area, Satish Upadhyay said that he was not aware of the development. A senior NDMC official said that the drive was part of a regular encroachment removal drive and was undertaken by the L&DO.
Hafiz Matlub Karim, a member of the managing committee of the seminary, alleged that they were not given prior notice. “Within 10 minutes, they started demolishing the outer wall of the complex. No prior notice was provided to us. They continued the demolition action along the walls and rooms where the students stay,” he said.
“This land belongs to the Waqf Board. We have also checked with the board, and no prior notice was issued to them either. These are not illegal structures. Ours is a 200-year-old institution,” Karim claimed.
The Delhi Waqf Board did not respond to attempts seeking a comment.
Around 110 students are said to be residing in the religious complex, known as Bachhon Wali Masjid. An official present at the site said that the temporary structures damaged during the squall in May last year were turned into permanent structures without approval.
“The overall site covers 35,000 square yards. Action is being taken as per the complaint received by the monitoring committee. We are also demarcating the public land and boundary of the complex after the demolition,” the official added.
The support staff of NDMC was seen removing debris and demolition waste from the site. “The main prayer area of the religious structure has not been touched. The wall extension and new rooms constructed on the site have been removed,” the official added.
