By Muslim Mirror
New Delhi : On 18th of June, 2019, Shri Parvesh Verma, Member of Parliament (MP) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) representing West Delhi constituency complained about “the mushrooming of mosques on government land in the city and demanded their removal. Later on 10th July, 2019, he supported his claim by providing to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi a list of 54 mosques and graveyards that allegedly exists in an unauthorised manner on government land across his constituency of West Delhi. These allegations created a sense of fear in the Muslim communities in Delhi as many of their mosques figured in the list of unauthorised or illegally built mosques, Madrasas and graveyards made public by Shri Parvesh Verma attracting print and electronic media attention to them and creating a sense of hatred towards Muslims in Delhi. Understanding the gravity of the situation arising from the serious allegations made by Members of Parliament representing Delhi, the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) instituted a five member fact finding committee on 24th June, 2019.
The committee visited 58 of Masjids, 3 Mazaars, 3 Madrasas, 3 Graveyards, and 1 Imambada including all the sites mentioned in the list of Shri Parvesh Verma covering a large area of five districts of Delhi, namely New Delhi, South West, West, North West and North districts. The findings of the committee about the list of Shri Parvesh Verma are as follows:
- 2 Qabristans, 2 Masjids and 1 Madrasa were found to belong to Delhi Waqf Board.
- 1 Qabristan allegedly allocated by the Delhi Government’s Urban Development Ministry in 2005, was used as a burial ground till 14 November 2017 and then people were stopped from burying their dead. Most of the graves have been vandalised and desecrated.
- 7 Masjids were given allotment by DDA/DUSIB/Gram Sabha in the name of the Masjids. Out of these, 2 Masjids have applied for allotment of land as the covering area of their Masjids was more than the allotted land.
- In the case of 23 Masjids and 1 Imambada, it was learnt that applications for allotment of land were submitted to the land owning authority by the committee of the respective Masjids. These masjids have been largely built in resettlement colonies where a large number of people were shifted by State authorities from central Delhi at different points of time. It was found that no action has been taken on their applications and they have been pending for the past few decades. Since no space for places of worship were allocated in resettlement colonies, people of different faiths built their places of worship in land available in these colonies.
- 6 Masjids and 1 Madrasa were found to be on private land which were purchased from either the land owning authorities or by a third party.
- In the case of 1 Masjid and 1 Mazaar, the fact finding team found that their property cases were sub-judice in the Courts.
- It was also observed that 2 Mazaars were illegally being converted into Mandirs.
- 2 Madrasas were found to be on the rented land.
- In 8 places no establishment of Masjids/Mazaars/Madrasa/Graveyard were seen. Either the addresses were incorrect or vacant plots were found.
- One mosque (P-1, Sultanpuri) appears twice in the list in No. 41 and No. 46.
- A local Masjid which was built around 1617, which comes under the Delhi Waqf Board, interestingly is being named as an encroachment on government land.
In brief, none of the names of Masjids/Mazaars/Madrasa/Graveyard were found to be illegally built or encroached on government land as claimed by Member of Parliament, Shri Parvesh Verma.
The Masjids, Madrasas, Mazaars and Qabristans mentioned in list Shri Parvesh Verma largely belong to the communities, families and individuals who were displaced or relocated in 1947 Partition, 1976 Emergency, and 2004 Commonwealth Games Preparations,
The Hon’ble Supreme Court on 16th February, 2010, has already given directions to all State Governments and Union Territories on removal/relocation/regularization of unauthorised religious constructions and the orders must be complied with.
Muslim Waqf properties have been mismanaged and encroached upon by non-government and government institutions, individuals and groups resulting in scarcity of space for places of worship and burial for Muslims.
There is a proliferation of Mandirs cropping up on the pavements, inside the public parks, under a tree and even illegally occupying various roads. Religious structures exist even inside public spaces like Police Stations, Municipal Corporation offices of Delhi, ASI protected monuments and also in government offices like in Vikas Bhawan where Delhi Minorities Commission is located.
In view of the above mentioned facts, the DMC Fact Finding team proposes the following recommendations:
- The fact finding committee has discovered that the claim that illegal Masjids, Qabristan, Mazaars and Madrasa have sprung up in West Delhi during the last 20 years was found to be false. There is sufficient grounds to initiate legal proceedings against Member of Parliament, Shri Parvesh Verma and those others making false claims, spreading rumours to target a particular community, and creating communal disharmony in Delhi.
- The fact finding committee recommend Delhi Minorities Commission to file a complaint against Member of Parliament, Shri Parvesh Verma in LokSabha’s Ethics Committee, as it is clearly found that he has violated his oath of office.
- In view of the Assembly Elections in Delhi in a few months time, there should be zero tolerance against those spreading hate and incitement to violence against particular communities and adequate protection must be given to people from vulnerable communities in Delhi.
- It has been found that large numbers of people have been evicted, relocated and resettled in resettlement colonies, but they have not been given ownership titles for the land they are occupying. Places of worship of all faiths built in these resettlement colonies need to be regularised. Applications for regularisation of places of worship in resettlement areas need to be processed and cleared by the concerned authorities at the earliest.
- The Qabristan (cemetery) at Vipin Garden should be given adequate protection from those desecrating and vandalising graves and it should be restored as a burial ground for Muslims.
- The Dargahs and Mazaars in Delhi should be restored with all its sanctity as a place of worship for all and efforts should be made to prevent these dargahs and Mazaars from being converted into Hindu places of worship. And Delhi Minorities Commission is requested to conduct a detailed fact-finding on this subject.
- The Supreme Courts orders on removal/relocation/regularisation of unauthorised religious structures must be complied with at the earliest by the concerned authorities in Delhi.
- For greater accountability in the Delhi Waqf Board, (a) the Waqf Board should be an elected body with periodic elections by the Muslim community in Delhi, (b) an annual report should be mandatorily published, (c) an independent committee should make an annual audit of the finances and properties of the Waqf Board.
Analysis
The list which was submitted by Member of Parliament, Shri Parvesh Verma contained 51 Masjids, 2 Mazaars, 3 Qabristan (Graveyards), and 2 Madrasas which he alleged were built on government land. The Committee visited each of these places and examined the current status which is as follows:
- 2 Qabristans, 2 Masjids and 1 Madrasa were found to belong to Delhi Waqf Board.
- 1 Qabristan allegedly allocated by the Flood Department in 2005, was used as a burial ground till 14 November 2017 and then people were stopped from burying their dead. Most of the graves have been vandalised and desecrated.
- 7 Masjids were given land allotments by DDA/DUSIB/Gram Sabha in the name of the Masjids. Out of these, 2 Masjids have applied for allotment of land as the covering area of their Masjids was more than the allotted land.
- In the case of 23 Masjids and 1 Imambada, it was learnt that applications for allotment of land were submitted to the land owning authority by the committee of the respective Masjids. These masjids have been largely built in resettlement colonies where a large number of people were shifted by State authorities from central Delhi at different points of time. It was found that no action has been taken on their applications and they have been pending for the past few decades.
- 6 Masjids and 1 Madrasa were found to be on private land which were purchased from either the land owning authorities or by a third party.
- In the case of 1 Masjid and 1 Mazaar, the fact finding team found that their property cases were sub-judice in Courts.
- It was also observed that 2 Mazaars were illegally being converted into Mandirs.
- 2 Madrasas were found to be on the rented land.
- In 8 places no establishment of Masjids/Mazaars/Madrasa/Graveyard were seen. Either the addresses were incorrect or vacant plots were found.
- One mosque appears twice in the list: No. 41 (P-1, Sultanpuri) and No. 46 (P-1, Sultanpuri, near nala) refers to the same mosque.
- A local Masjid which was built around 1617, which comes under the Delhi Waqf Board, interestingly is being named as an encroachment on government land.
In brief, none of the names of Masjids/Mazaars/Madrasa/Graveyard were found to be illegally built or encroached on government land as claimed by Member of Parliament, Shri Parvesh Verma.
BJP and all in it thrive by telling lies only.
Unnecceary harrasement. What more we can expect from there parliamentarians who are a bnd of Liers, Thieves and Dacoits.