Crowd gathered to prevent Dharavi mosque demolition disperses when trustees agree to demolish illegality

In Dharavi, thousands blocked a road to prevent the BMC from demolishing parts of a mosque, claiming selective targeting amid ongoing legal disputes.

MUMBAI: By 9 am on Saturday, thousands of Dharavi residents had gathered on the 90-ft Road, blocking it to prevent the BMC’s demolition of unauthorised portions of the Mehboob-e-Subhani mosque in one of the bylanes. Despite the increasing heat, between 3,000 and 4,000 residents sat on the road to block any harm to the mosque and vandalised a BMC vehicle in the process.

Thousands of Dharavi residents had gathered on the 90-ft Road, blocking it to prevent the BMC’s demolition of unauthorised portions of the Mehboob-e-Subhani mosque. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

Conditions for the unrest had been set in place by Friday night. The mosque authorities had been circulating a call for people to gather by 9 am the following day, as a BMC squad with police protection was expected to arrive for the demolition. Their call was answered.

Despite the fears that the simmering tensions would erupt in violence, by 12:30 pm, a loudspeaker announcement was made that the demolition of the mosque had been stopped for the time being. The mosque’s trustees had submitted a letter to the BMC, promising to demolish the unauthorised parts of the mosque themselves within four to five days.

Ghulam Ansari, president of the mosque trust, explained how the illegality happened. “Its roof was in bad condition, with cement peeling off and water seeping in during the monsoon,” said “With the neighbourhood population increasing, we would have faced a space crunch for Friday prayers and people would have spilled out on the road. So we decided to repair the roof and build another floor while we were at it.”

Ansari claimed that the BMC was well aware of the illegal construction even then but did not stop it. After the extra level was built, the trust received a notice from the civic body in March 2023. The topmost floors and pillars at the corners of the mosque were dubbed unauthorised.

“We filed a case in the city civil court, which asked the BMC to consider the mosque’s case, especially since other unauthorised structures stand beside it,” said the trust’s lawyer. “The court left it to the BMC to decide. We appealed this order in the Bombay high court, which sent us back to the lower court. Our next hearing is in November.”

Despite the case being in court, the BMC sent the mosque another notice under Section 488 of the BMC Act this September, informing the trust about the impending demolition.

“We responded to the BMC and the matter was brought up in court on Friday, when the BMC asked for two days to file a reply. And yet, it went ahead with the demolition,” said the lawyer. This compelled the mosque to put a call out for support.

Dharavi residents question why, if so many unauthorised structures stand in Dharavi, this particular mosque was targeted, and why the BMC was interfering at all since the mosque has been included in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) survey. “The BMC is not the competent authority to issue such a notice selectively,” said their lawyer.

The assistant commissioner of the ward, Ajitkumar Ambi, and DMC Prashant Sapkale did not respond to questions on the above.

The residents believe this was an attempt by certain political parties to raise communal tensions in a relatively peaceful area before the assembly elections. Samya Korde of the Peasants and Workers Party of India pointed out that many communities apart from Muslims turned up to protect the mosque. “The recent festivals of Ganeshotsav and Eid-e-Milad too were celebrated one after the other without a hitch,” she said.

A senior BMC officer reiterated that the mosque’s trustees had submitted in writing that they would themselves remove the illegal parts of the mosque. “The matter was also in the high court and there was no relief provided,” he pointed out.

However, the lawyer and Ansari said that they were filing an appeal for a stay on the demolition. “We wrote that letter to the BMC in desperation,” said Ansari. “We were fearful of a violent incident, as the crowd had increased to a dangerous extent. Violence would only lead us to doom.”