New Delhi: Gurgaon’s Sector 57 mosque was vandalised, set on fire and its deputy imam murdered by a mob amidst reports of tension prevailing in Haryana’s Mewat after a Hindutva procession caused a communal flare up.Sources told The Wire the mosque was attacked at 12:30 am last night by a large armed mob which fired on the mosque and then set it on fire. The chief imam of the mosque was away to his village last night. But the naib-imam or deputy imam, who would lead prayers in his absence, was assaulted, stabbed 13 times with swords, etc. and his throat slit before he was killed. Another person present in the premises was also badly beaten up and shot in the knee. He is presently in the ICU.Sources at the hospital the two were taken to – W Pratiksha Hospital – confirmed to The Wire that one of the victims was brought dead, with multiple stab wounds in his chest.#Gurugram Sector 57 Masjid has been put on fire and 3 people have been injured and admitted to W Pratiksha Hospital. @DC_Gurugram @gurgaonpolice @cmohry need your immediate help #SOSI am receiving similar reports from few other Masjid at Sohna. pic.twitter.com/BmrQjGKxgn— Altaf Ahmad (@JoinAltaf) July 31, 2023Only mosque in New Gurugram on government-allocated land The Sector 57 mosque is the only mosque on a government-allocated land in the planned urban developed area in Gurugram and, as The Hindu reported in 2021, it “caters to almost half of the city’s municipal area spread across south and east zones and a large section of the floating population commuting to the Millennium City daily for work”.Though it is the only mosque in the area, despite having been allotted the land earmarked for a mosque on August 11, 2006 and having secured a clearance for its building plans earlier, further construction has not recommenced pending revalidation of the plans from the government.Supreme Court dismissed petition against it this MayIt was only recently, on May 1, that a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court finally dismissed the petition against the mosque. The court said:“After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, we are not convinced that the petitioners have made out a case for exercising jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution. However, we reiterate the observations and directions which are contained in the impugned order(s) which shall be strictly complied with by the sixth respondent- Haryana Anjuman Charitable Trust as also the Public Authority. We record the submission of learned counsel for the sixth respondent that the sixth respondent will make available volunteers (Traffic Volunteers) so that the problem arising out of increasing traffic is adequately redressed. That apart, we direct that over and above the said assurance being recorded, that the Commissioner of Traffic Police, Gurugram, Haryana will deploy police personnel in sufficient numbers as and when required and particularly without fail on every Friday so that they will efficiently control and regulate the Traffic in such a way that all the people in the area are least inconvenienced. We further record the submission of the learned counsel for the sixth respondent that there will be no noise pollution caused by it and the sixth respondent shall not use loud speakers for Azaan. The Commissioner of Traffic Police, Gurugram, Haryana will make assessment and make suitable arrangements so that apart from Fridays, police personnel are always present so as to obviate any untoward situation. He may consider establishing a Traffic Police Post/Booth in the vicinity of the Mosque in question, if he deems it fit.Subject to the aforesaid directions, the special leave petitions are disposed of. Pending application(s), if any, stand disposed of.”The contextIt is learnt that a few weeks before this attack, the mosque had been attacked by miscreants from a neighbouring village.The police had acted promptly on information being shared with them and detained several attackers. However, due to intervention of residents and elders, in order to restore peace in the area, the matter was ultimately resolved by negotiation.About six months after the construction on the plot allotted for the mosque began in 2004, some real estate agents etc. moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, saying that the land allocated for the mosque was earmarked for other purposes.The petition was rejected by the high court but an order was obtained to “maintain status-quo” from the Supreme Court, which lasted for 12 years.As a result, despite being granted permission from the authorities to build three storeys, only the basement and the ground floor were built where prayers were held. The namaz controversy in Gurugram had driven more and more Muslims to pray here.While the building plan of the mosque has been sanctioned by the government, it is possible to do the work only if construction starts within a stipulated time period of getting the permission. As the stay meant that time was missed, sources say that “permission to revalidate the old building plan is pending in the chief minister, M.L. Khattar’s office”.
