NEW DELHI — The partial demolition of a historic mosque in the central Indian city of Ujjain for a road widening project sparked tension in the area on Monday, with protesters resorting to stone-pelting and police using tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd.The confrontation came as the city administration began the process of removing the portion of the six-centuries-old Shahi Masjid that falls within the proposed alignment of the road being widened ahead of a major Hindu religious festival in 2028.A large crowd gathered at the site as the action began, with police and protesters coming face-to-face amid the continuing opposition to the demolition.Police had made extensive security arrangements around the mosque following the overnight standoff, when hundreds of residents and members of the Muslim community had gathered at the site to prevent the proposed removal.The city administration has deployed a large police contingent in the area, with reports putting the deployment at around 2,000 personnel. Barricades have been placed around the mosque and movement has been restricted in an approximately 500-meter radius as authorities seek to prevent the confrontation from spreading. The immediate confrontation follows two days of resistance by residents to the proposed removal. On Sunday night, police and municipal teams had arrived with heavy machinery, but a large gathering outside the mosque prevented the administration from proceeding with the operation.Community members had also spent the night inside the mosque, saying they would not allow any part of the structure to be removed.There had been attempts overnight to resolve the standoff through discussions between the administration and representatives of the mosque. Some reports said an understanding had been reached under which members of the community would themselves remove the affected portion, but the arrangement did not hold and opposition resumed when the removal process began on Monday.The mosque committee and members of the Muslim community have argued that the road should be widened through an alternative alignment or by removing structures opposite the mosque. They have also challenged the proposed removal in court, arguing that the mosque, which is registered as a Waqf property, should be protected as a religious structure.The Ujjain Municipal Corporation issued multiple notices to the Shahi Masjid committee beginning on August 14, saying a part of the mosque needs to be removed as it was obstructing the road-widening project being undertaken in view of the upcoming Hindu festival.The masjid committee filed a lawsuit in the high court in Madhya Pradesh state early this month, urging it to declare the notices arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional, but a judge dismissed the petition a week later, clearing the way for the civic body to proceed with the road-widening exercise.On Monday morning, the Shahi Masjid committee challenged the single-judge bench order before a division bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which dismissed their appeal and upheld the single-judge bench order.On Sunday evening, the police put up barricades around the area and deployed personnel. Tension started building up as community members began gathering near the mosque to protest against any demolition.Several people were arrested and 15 others detained on Monday, while a case has been registered against seven people, including some social media influencers who shared inflammatory statements.“Various communities and organizations have been consistently cooperating with the road-widening project,” Ujjain Superintendent of Police Pradeep Sharma told the PTI news agency.He said certain “troublemakers” attempted to disrupt the process by pelting stones, and “they were immediately dealt with by a heavy police force ”. As tension escalated on the streets near the Chhatri Chowk, which houses the mosque, the Ujjain City Qazi Khaliqur Rahman urged people to remain calm.The mosque authorities opposed the partial demolition, claiming the proposed removal would affect part of the mosque’s main prayer hall and a 120-foot minaret. The corporation rejected arguments that the structure was being treated differently because it was a mosque, and said several other religious structures have been removed as part of the Ujjain Development Plan 2035.It said 10 temples and one mosque had already been removed along the same road, while action had been taken against around 80 religious places across Ujjain.The road-widening project has been presented by the Ujjain administration as part of preparations for Simhastha 2028, the major religious congregation held in the city every 12 years. It said the widening was necessary to manage the movement of a massive number of devotees during the gathering.The Shahi Masjid, which dates back to 1390, is located almost opposite the Mahakaleshwar Temple and near the Kshipra River.
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