By Piyush Srivastava
Government bulldozers flattened a mosque and a madrasa on Sunday in Sambhal district, a new laboratory of Hindutva where over a dozen Islamic sites have been razed since a saffron claim on a mosque triggered street violence 14 months ago.
Sunday’s demolitions took place in Salempur Salar aka Hazipur village, 12km from Sambhal town where a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid — to look for Hindu relics and temple ruins — led to clashes in November 2024.
District magistrate Rajendra Pensiya said Hazipur residents had themselves begun pulling the structures down a few hours before the Yogi Adityanath government’s bulldozers arrived.
“We had information that the villagers were demolishing the building, but our bulldozers finished the job. We are happy that the villagers are cooperating with us,” he told reporters.
“There is very little government land in this village; so it was necessary to clear the encroached-on gram sabha land on which the mosque stood. We are going to allot the vacated land to 20 local Dalit families.”
Dhirendra Singh, a tehsildar, said: “We have also imposed a ₹8.78-lakh fine on the encroachers (mosque management committee).”
A notice had been served on the management committee for the Madina Masjid, built on a 439sqm plot, two weeks ago.
This story was originally published in telegraphindia.com. Read the full story here.