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Police in Ujjain, a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, used force against Muslims who were trying to protect a 600-year-old historic Shahi Mosque.
Police in Ujjain, a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, used force against Muslims who were trying to protect a 600-year-old historic Shahi Mosque. According to Indian media reports, parts of the historic mosque had been marked for demolition under a road-widening project ahead of the 2028 Simhastha Kumbh, a major Hindu religious festival.
Thousands of Muslims gathered inside the 600-year-old historic mosque to prevent its demolition. Local Muslims had been staging a continuous sit-in inside the mosque for several days to protect it. Today, police and local authorities once again arrived with bulldozers, leading to intense clashes between residents and police, during which police reportedly carried out a heavy baton charge and fired tear gas shells. According to Indian media, an agreement was reached between the mosque’s representative committee and the administration on Sunday night that, under the road-widening project, a three-foot section of the mosque where prayers are not offered would be removed.
On Monday, after the Fajr prayer, people peacefully returned to their homes. However, at around 8 a.m., authorities suddenly arrived at the mosque again and allegedly threatened to immediately demolish the marked section with a bulldozer. Indian media reported that Muslims felt the agreement reached the previous night was not being honored. As a result, people began gathering outside the mosque again, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd. Clashes subsequently broke out between protesters and police.
According to Indian media, a dispute also remains between the two sides over the mosque’s minaret. Local residents said they had offered to build a new minaret directly behind the existing one and requested time to do so before the current minaret was removed. However, the administration rejected the proposal. Meanwhile, Ujjain Superintendent of Police Pradeep Sharma told the media, “The Muslim community and the mosque committee are removing, with full consensus and cooperation, the portion of the mosque that falls within the road-widening zone in view of the 2028 Simhastha Kumbh festival.”
