In a positive development to stem the encroachment of illegal Mazār, a mausoleum or shrine in the Muslim world, the Allahabad High Court has ordered the immediate removal of a mosque and a mazar illegally constructed inside the Chandrashekhar Azad Park at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
The court ruled, “We want the park free of all encroachments,” while hearing a petition filed by petitioner Jitender Singh.
The order was passed by a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Piyush Agarwal and they directed all illegal encroachments on this historic park that came up after 1975 must be removed within two days and directed the Prayagraj district administration to submit a compliance report by October 8.
This is a historic judgment that will now save the historic Chandrashekhar Azad Park (Alfred Park) where the revolutionary freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad engaged the British government in a gun battle and as a last act of defiance, took his own life then become a prisoner of the British on 27 February 1931 when he was only 24 years old.
The petitioner had brought the matter of the encroachment of this park to the notice of the court and said the very existence of this park is under threat as some members of the Muslim community have illegally constructed artificial graves and they are trying to convert a structure into a mosque.
According to the petitioner, the aim of the Muslim community was to eventually convert the park into a graveyard and mosque and no part of this park ever remained the property of the Waqt Board as he also submitted photographs of those illegal constructions.
“The members of Muslim community in their usual manner of capturing the land for their religious purposes are trying to construct a mosque within the park area and some artificial mazaars (grave yards) have been created at the instance of fundamentalists and the patronage of Waqf Board,” the petitioner had said.
“That it is relevant to mention that no part of the park has ever been used as Waqf property either for the purposes of buying the dead, dargaah or mazar and no mosque was ever constructed or had been in existence in any manner. Even today no mosque is in existence. A building illegally raised is being tried to be converted into a mosque,” the petitioner had said.
The petitioner said the illegal construction of graves was a direct violation of the ‘UP Parks Playgrounds and Open Spaces Act, 1975’, and in this case, a park of historical importance is under threat and under the Allahabad Master Plan, 1967-1991 which mentions Azad Park as the most important city park, having historical importance.
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