Ujjain: The voluntary removal of a portion of Ujjain’s historic Shahi Masjid for a road-widening project resumed on Tuesday morning following talks between the local administration, the Shahar Qazi, and mosque management officials, a committee member said on Monday. The work is being carried out ahead of the 2028 Simhastha Kumbh Mela.
The committee had initially sought to protect as much of the religious structure as possible. However, after discussions failed to produce a consensus on Sunday night, a decision was taken to remove the portion that falls in the path of the road project, he said.
Numainda Committee member Fahim Sikandar told reporters that an agreement had been reached to carry out the work peacefully. He said the Muslim community respects the road-widening project and is cooperating with the removal of the affected portion of the mosque.
The administration had initially not brought machinery for the demolition, prompting community members to begin removing the affected section of the mosque wall themselves, according to Sikandar.
The exact extent of the removal has not yet been finalised, with discussions underway over whether three to eight feet of the mosque wall will have to be removed. Sikandar said the work could take seven to eight days and machinery would be brought in if required.
Tensions had flared in Ujjain on Monday when police used tear gas to disperse a crowd that pelted stones while protesting the proposed removal of the mosque portion, officials said.
The situation later eased after senior community members clarified that the work was being carried out voluntarily, Sikandar said.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Indore bench disposed of two writ appeals concerning the removal of the mosque portion after the Muslim side and the Ujjain Municipal Corporation reached an agreement.
A division bench comprising Justices Subodh Abhyankar and Jai Kumar Pillai disposed of the appeals after the petitioners informed the court that a settlement had been reached with the civic authorities.
The court also said the assurances given by the Ujjain Municipal Corporation and its interim notice in the case would be binding on the civic body.
Kuldeep Pathak, who represented one of the Muslim parties, said the appeals were disposed of on the basis of an agreement between the civic body and the committee managing the Shahi Masjid. He said both sides had been directed to abide by the agreement.
Pathak claimed that the Ujjain administration had initially sought to remove around 9.5 feet of the mosque structure for the road-widening project, but that the agreement reduced the proposed removal to around three feet.
(With inputs from PTI)
