By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has condemned the demolition of a more than century-old mosque in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state by Prime Minister Modi's government, saying the action was part of what it described as a broader campaign against Muslim religious and cultural sites.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that authorities in Saharanpur demolished the mosque on Sept. 5 and described the action as “reprehensible,” accusing Indian authorities of contributing to the erosion of Islamic heritage.

India’s local authorities, however, said the mosque was an unauthorised structure occupying government land and that the demolition followed a judicial process.

The mosque stood inside the Saharanpur Collectorate complex, the district’s main administrative compound. Authorities demolished it in the early hours of Sept. 5 after a district court rejected an appeal by the mosque management committee on Sept. 2. The appeal had challenged an earlier July 16 order by the City Magistrate declaring the structure unauthorised and ordering its eviction.

The July 16 order reportedly found that the mosque occupied about 315 square metres of government land and ordered its eviction under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act. A district court subsequently rejected the mosque committee’s appeal on Sept. 2, paving the way for administrative action.

According to Muslim leaders, Indian courts have repeatedly upheld orders issued by Hindu nationalist-led governments to demolish Islamic heritage sites and Muslim places of worship. They said the same pattern was followed by a local court in Saharanpur, which cleared the way for the demolition of the century-old mosque.

The demolition took place around 5 a.m. on Sept. 5, with authorities sealing the Collectorate's gates and deploying police and Rapid Action Force personnel.

The mosque's management and opposition politicians disputed the government's handling of the case. AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said records indicated the mosque had been functioning since 1911 or earlier, while critics questioned why authorities carried out the demolition before the dispute could be taken to higher courts.

The age of the mosque has become a central point of contention.

Muslim representatives and opposition politicians have said documentary evidence showed that the mosque had existed for more than a century. Owaisi claimed the place of worship was functioning from 1911 or earlier and argued that the mosque predated the establishment of the present Collectorate arrangement.

The Saharanpur demolition is part of a wider pattern of actions against Muslim religious structures in BJP-ruled areas that Indian authorities have justified on grounds including encroachment, unauthorised construction, road widening and occupation of government land.

There is no verified nationwide figure for the number of mosques demolished by the Modi government since 2014. 

However, one of the clearest official figures comes from Uttar Pradesh.

In May 2025, officials in the BJP-governed state said an anti-encroachment campaign in seven districts bordering Nepal had resulted in action against 30 mosques, 25 shrines and six Eidgahs, alongside 225 madrasas. Authorities said the structures were unauthorised or built on government land. The state government demolished these religious sites in the name of encroachment.

Several other cases have attracted national attention during Modi's tenure.

In December 2024, authorities in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, demolished part of the approximately 180-year-old Noori Jama Masjid, saying a section of the mosque encroached on a highway and had been constructed illegally in recent years. Officials said notices had previously been issued to the mosque committee.

In February 2025, Uttar Pradesh authorities demolished Madani Masjid in Hata, citing alleged encroachment. The action followed an earlier dispute over whether part of the mosque occupied municipal and public land.

In April 2026, a mosque in Asti village near Lucknow was demolished after the Allahabad High Court ordered action following a prolonged dispute over government land. 

In June 2026, authorities in Jaipur demolished a mosque during an anti-encroachment operation linked to road widening. 

The demolitions have become part of a wider political debate in India over the use of bulldozers by authorities against alleged illegal construction.

Critics have accused BJP-ruled governments of disproportionately targeting Muslim properties.

In its Sept. 6 statement, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry linked the Saharanpur demolition to the much older dispute surrounding Babri Masjid, a mosque in Ayodhya that was demolished by Hindu activists in December 1992.

Pakistan described the destruction of Babri Masjid as an enduring symbol of what it called religious intolerance and accused Indian authorities of failing to adequately protect Muslim religious heritage.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called on the international community to take what it described as immediate notice of the “systematic persecution” of Muslims in India and the destruction of Muslim places of worship.