FO condemns mosque demolition in India's Uttar Pradesh, terms it part of 'drive to erase Islamic heritage'

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Pakistan on Sunday condemned the demolition of a century-old mosque in India’s Uttar Pradesh, describing it as part of an “Islamophobic and Hindutva-driven campaign to erase the Islamic heritage” in the country. Responding to media queries regarding the demolition, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan condemned the move and described it as “a reprehensible action against a historic Islamic place of worship”. He recalled that the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 was an “enduring symbol of this ideology of religious intolerance, prejudice and hatred”. “Pakistan calls upon the international community to take immediate cognisance of the systematic persecution of Muslims by Indian authorities,” the statement said, highlighting the “continued desecration and destruction of their places of worship under state patronage”. Khan called for accountability of Indian authorities for actions against the religious freedom and cultural heritage of all minorities, particularly Muslims. According to The Indian Express, the mosque, which was located inside a Collectorate in Saharanpur, was demolished a day earlier. The demolition came three days after a district court had dismissed an appeal against an order holding that the structure stood on government land and was unauthorised. The September 2 order did not itself mention demolition. The Indian Express quoted mosque staff member Tanveer Ahmed as saying that the order was for eviction, not demolition. He claimed the mosque was around 150 years old, and maintained that the land was recorded in their names. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Hyderabad lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi condemned the demolition and questioned whether the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion applied to Muslims, NDTV reported. According to Owaisi, the mosque dated back to 1911, claiming that the Collectorate itself was constructed later. In 2024, the Akhonji mosque, which was over 600 years old, was razed to the ground without any prior notice in Delhi’s Mehrauli district. In 1992, a Hindu mob destroyed the famous Babri mosque, triggering riots that killed about 2,000 people across India, most of them Muslims.

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