The Indian railways issued a notification on July 22 guaranteeing that two Delhi mosques, Bangali Market Masjid and Takiya Babber Shah, situated on railway lines should be eliminated in 15 days or less. Meanwhile, the Delhi Board will move the High Court in the matter of notice given by the Railways to two mosques in Delhi.
The Northern Railway administration has sent notices to the two mosques requesting that any encroachments be removed within 15 days.
The rail route specialists have cautioned that "on the off chance that the encroachments are not eliminated inside the specified time period, they will make a fundamental move to recover their land."
The railway administration has expressed "their land has been wrongfully infringed upon, and they are asking the concerned gatherings to intentionally eliminate any unapproved structures, sanctuaries, mosques, or sanctums built on their property. The railway administration will reclaim the encroached land in accordance with the Railway Act if you do not comply with the notice.
Additionally, "the parties responsible for the encroachments will be held accountable for any damages incurred during the process, relieving the railway administration of any liabilities" was included.
The Babar Shah Takiya Mosque's is almost 400 years of age, the reports referenced.
Moreover, the officials of railway has given notice to the nearby office of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for Malaria, requesting the evacuation.
Delhi Waqf Board reacts
The Masjid Committee claimed that these are 250 and 500 years old mosques. On this matter said that this Masjid having Hujra, Courtyard, Toilet, Chabutra etc. in total measuring 0.095 acres of land was transferred to Sunni Majlis Auqaf through an agreement dated 06.03.1945 by the Chief Commissioner to the Governor General in Council.
This agreement is registered in Additional Book No. 1, Volume 95 on pages 49 to 51 with number 278. This agreement also shows that a mosque with hujras (rooms) and a well and a bathhouse was already in existence at the date of the agreement.
Also note that the Waqf property under reference is the one duly notified in the Gazette of Delhi Administration dated 16.04.1970. The properties mentioned in the notice are part of 123 Waqf properties which were denotified by the Central Government on 05.03.2014 in favor of Delhi Waqf Board.
Earlier in April, a part of a mosque in Delhi's Bengali Market region was destroyed over infringement. Be that as it may, the mosque council guaranteed they had received no prior notification.
The demolition was carried by the New Delhi Municipal Council within the sight of heavy police deployment, provoking the mosque the management to guarantee that the bulldozer action came with practically no data or notice.
The part of the mosque that was obliterated by the land and development office was made of cement a couple of months back, guaranteed the mosque management. The rooms of the mosque, which were obliterated, housed somewhere around 125 orphan children.
"They broke everything, the fans, the walls where the children would study. We were not even given an hour's notification to eliminate our possessions from the spot," expressed one of the imam's, who has been a teacher at the masjid for more than 15 years.
Authorities of the land and development office asserted that the new structure other than the mosque was developed on infringed land. The mosque, which has undergone numerous renovations since 1947, is approximately 250 years old.
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