Protest Erupts In Shimla After Congress MLAs Clash Over Sanjauli Mosque In Himachal Assembly

Congress leaders Anirudh Singh, left, and Harish Janartha, right, clashed over the mosque's legality in the assembly on Wednesday. (PTI file photos)

The controversy over the mosque intensified on Wednesday after a heated debate in the state Assembly, where Congress ministers Anirudh Singh and Harish Janartha clashed over the mosque's legality

A massive protest erupted outside the Sanjauli Masjid in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla with members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), various Hindu organisations, and local residents demanding the demolition of what they allege to be an “illegal” mosque.

Ankush Chauhan, a BJP worker at the protest, called the mosque’s construction as illegal, stating, “This mosque has been built illegally. The four floors of the mosque are illegal. If we construct anything illegally, it is immediately demolished. It has been 10 years, but no action has been taken on the mosque. This illegal mosque should be demolished.”

The controversy over the mosque intensified on Wednesday after a heated debate in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, where Congress leaders Anirudh Singh and Harish Janartha clashed over the mosque’s legality.

Janartha had argued that there was no tension in the area and claimed that the mosque, built before 1960, had three additional stories constructed illegally in 2010 on Waqf Board land. He added that not only outsiders but local Muslims were living in the mosque, and that illegally constructed toilets had been demolished. Janartha accused certain elements of exacerbating the issue.

In response, Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh stated that the number of Muslim Tehbazaris was not 190 but 1,900, asserting that Tehbazari (licence to hawk) permission should be granted only to bona fide Himachalis, with permissions given to outsiders being cancelled.

Anirudh Singh further addressed the issue on Thursday, emphasising that illegal construction should not be “tolerated anywhere in Himachal Pradesh”.

He questioned why the issue had been overlooked for so long, asserting, “Illegal is illegal, whether it’s a temple or a mosque.”

“We’ve urged the Chief Minister to maintain records of illegal immigrants and to verify their police backgrounds, whether they’re coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh, or even within India. If these individuals are arriving from outside, we must understand what criminal activities they might be involved in,” the minister stated.