Mandi Mosque Protest: After Shimla, massive protests broke out in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi on Friday against the alleged illegal construction at a mosque in the city's Jail Road area. The agitators initially held a march in the Mandi market area and sat on a dharna at Seri Manch. Later, as they attempted to proceed towards the mosque, police tried to stop them and resorted to using water cannons to bring the situation under control.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the mosque authorities had themselves demolished the unauthorised portion of the mosque on Thursday. "Water canons are used in the state in every protest. This is not the first time... All this is a part of protesting. There's nothing wrong with it. Since all of this is telecast in the media, people spice up their protests with all this... The Masjid Committee has itself asked the Municipal Commissioner for permission to destroy the illegally constructed floors of the mosque. This is the culture of Himachal Pradesh," he said while briefing media.
The construction was reportedly done on land which belonged to the Public Works Department (PWD). In this regard, both the PWD and the municipal corporation had served notice to the mosque management. "The PWD officials had informed us that a wall of the mosque was in PWD land and we were served notice. So we decided to demolish the wall," Iqbal Ali, a member of the mosque committee told news agency ANI.
Security was beefed up by the police in Mandi with the deployment of heavy force after Hindu outfits gave the call for a protest march. "Law and order will be maintained. Through different sources, we have information that some organisations have given a call to gather here. Around 300 police personnel have been deployed, and police nakas have been placed at the entrance of Mandi town. Action will be taken on violation of prohibitory orders under 163 BNS," Mandi SP Sakshi Verma said.
This a day after violent clashes in the capital city Shimla on Thursday where Hindu groups staged a protest against the alleged illegal construction at Sanjauli mosque premises. Speaking on Shima violence, CM Sukhu said, "The illegally constructed mosque in Shimla with which the whole issue is associated, the Muslim community has asked for permission from the commission to demolish the extra floors themselves. Any kind of illegal construction, irrespective of which religion it belongs to, will be acted upon."