An “illegal” mosque being demolished in the presence of SDM, the City Magistrate and the Police Force in Uttar Pradesh. Photo: X/@ANINewsUP.
A mosque inside the Saharanpur District Collectorate complex was demolished on Saturday (September 5, 2026), days after a district court dismissed an appeal against the order holding that the structure was unauthorised. The action initiated early in the morning amid heavy police presence led to an uproar, with Opposition parties accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of communalising the State’s environment, and indulging in targeted action against a particular community ahead of the 2027 Assembly election. “A building had been illegally constructed on government land within the Collectorate complex. Eviction proceedings were initiated against it under the Public Premises Act. The mosque side had appealed against this before the District Judge; however, that appeal was dismissed, and the City Magistrate’s original order was upheld and deemed valid. Consequently, we have carried out the eviction process. The legal proceedings for the recovery of the fine are under way,” Subodh Kumar, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Saharanpur, said. “A Post Office was operating there and paying rent regularly; it has been removed, and the goods have been shifted immediately... The operation started at 7 a.m. and it will be completed by the evening,” he added.“There are no contradictions of any kind. All parties were heard by the court, and they were given ample opportunity to appeal. The entire legal process applicable to them has been fully followed. Proper notice was served, and the stipulated notice period was fully adhered to. All established legal procedures regarding this matter have been followed, and the action taken is in accordance with them,” Mr. Kumar added.#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: An illegal mosque, constructed within the Collectorate premises in Saharanpur, being demolished in the presence of SDM, City Magistrate and Police Force. The Court of City Magistrate had declared the mosque illegal last month and issued an order for its… pic.twitter.com/6Z8ZMLqVFd— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 5, 2026In a related development, Lok Sabha MP from Kairana, Iqra Hasan, who was scheduled to visit Saharanpur on Saturday and was likely to reach the site of the demolition, was unable to leave her residence. Ms. Hasan alleged that a large police force arrived at her residence and prevented her from leaving as she was set to begin her journey to Saharanpur.Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of abusing the law. “The BJP can commit as much injustice as it wishes, but is now itself fearful, not of the people’s voices, but of their silence. The practice of using the law to carry out illegal activities may prevail for a while, but it doesn’t last forever. The BJP, which plundered temple donations, has no idea how to value symbols of faith. The entire Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, minority, Backward, and Dalit communities are witnessing how atrocities against them continue to escalate. When the victim becomes silent, their protest becomes vocal even in silence,” Mr. Yadav said on social media platform X. Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai highlighted “the politics of hatred and division” in the State. “The news of the demolition of the mosque built in 1911 in the Saharanpur Collectorate complex is extremely sad and shameful. Politics of hatred and division do not strengthen society. Rather, it weakens social harmony and brotherhood. The Congress party clearly believes that justice should be done to every religion, every community, and every citizen in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP government has to understand that religious buildings can be demolished with bulldozers, but the voice of democracy and the rights of the people cannot be suppressed. Uttar Pradesh is a land of brotherhood, justice, and social harmony. It cannot be allowed to become a battlefield for the politics of hatred and division. The BJP government is communalising the State’s environment before the 2027 Assembly election, and indulging in targeted action against a particular community,” Mr. Rai told The Hindu. VIDEO | Saharanpur: Security forces deployed across various locations following mosque demolition following a court's order declaring the structure as illegal.(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/d8jp61yd2p) pic.twitter.com/VrspJtcEgn— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 5, 2026The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati said a constitutional, secular government must respect and protect the adherents of all religions and their religious sites equally. “The government campaign of demolishing mosques across all of Uttar Pradesh, including the mosque of Saharanpur district, by declaring them illegal in a hurry, is not right, and to avoid such negative situations, the government should immediately stop it (demolishing mosques) and take other measures to resolve it (alleged illegalities). A constitutional, secular government has a responsibility to respect and protect the adherents of all religions and their religious sites equally. In Islam, mosques are a central and integral part of daily worship, and in fact, offering prayers in congregation multiple times a day. Keeping this in mind and respecting them in accordance with Indian tradition is essential in the national and wider public interest,” Ms. Mayawati said on X. Nagina MP and Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad said the action of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and City Magistrate to seal the mosque and demolish it in the dark at 5 a.m., was not only a hasty step but also a step taken to weaken the opportunity for judicial remedy available to the mosque’s side, and to take action even before the judicial process reached the next stage.Saharanpur Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader Imran Masood said he would approach the higher judiciary against the action. Published - September 05, 2026 01:14 pm IST
