Man arrested for Azaan, Namaz in UP mosque

ISLAMABAD: A young Muslim in Indian state Uttar Pradesh (UP) was arrested for offering Azaan at a Mughal era mosque which is abandoned.

He was later granted bail after being charged for allegedly creating “enmity between communities”.

According to media reports, it could not be independently verified about the estimated age of the mosque. It has been stated without any documentary evidence that it was 250-300 years old. While local Muslims believe the structure was a mosque, some Hindus say it used to be a fort belonging to Hindu rulers before the conquest by Mughals and Afghans. The architect establishes that it is a mosque.

21-year-old Umar Qureshi offered Namaz after reciting Azaan. A local Hindu Neeraj Kumar claimed that Umar allegedly violated a British-era mutual understanding between Muslims and Hindus in the region that neither community would use the premises for religious purposes or alter its status quo. He is complainant in the FIR lodged with the Shamli district police. The mosque is located in Ahata Gos Garh (alternatively spelt Ahata Gausgarh) village in Thana Bhawan block of Shamli district in western UP.

On Friday, January 5, police lodged an FIR against Umar Qureshi, a resident of Jalalabad town, 5-6 km away, for allegedly offering Namaz at the site held by him to be a Mughal-era mosque. The village Ahata Gos Garh has no Muslim residents, said Kumar. Umar Qureshi was booked under Section 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

According to the FIR, on Friday at around 2 pm, Qureshi allegedly offered Namaz at the site and “with the intention of spoiling mutual harmony in the society” clicked a video and photos of the act and shared it on his Facebook and Instagram pages. He allegedly made them viral on social media.

Apparently, this was not the first time he prayed at the site. A page matching Qureshi’s identity on Instagram, with over 44,000 followers, shows that his last dozen-odd posts were dedicated to the mosque and appealing to people to widely share information about the poor condition of the mosque. A video from December 29 (also a Friday) uploaded by him on his page showed him, barefoot, offering the Azaan while facing the mosque. Large piles of cow dung had been spread out to dry at the foot of the unutilised structure as well as in the compound facing it.

In his written complaint, Kumar described the site as a 200- to 300-year-old khandhar (ruins) of a quila (fort) near his village. Namaz had never been offered at the site before this, he said, adding that Umar Qureshi’s act had created outrage among the villagers. Kumar told The Wire that in the past, too, locals from neighbouring villages and towns had visited the site out of curiosity and returned without any controversy. “People come here to see the site. We have no objection to it. But in this particular case, those who came here raised unnecessary slogans and gave statements to incite people and offered Namaz as well,” said Kumar.

Kumar says some locals refer to the structure as Raja ka Quila but he does not know what to call it – a mosque or a fort – and admits he doesn’t know for sure what it was. However, what Kumar is certain about is that the structure must not be tampered with. “Our bade log (ancestors) had reached a mutual understanding that no Hindu would offer puja here and no Muslim would offer Namaz here. That’s it,” said Kumar, stressing that he wanted to avoid a communal controversy over the issue.

Anees Ahmad, Qureshi’s father, said his son cleaned parts of the mosque out of enthusiasm and landed into trouble over the Azaan as he shot videos of the act. “This is the age of videos. So, it was widely circulated,” said Anees Ahmad. Anees added his son assisted him in a fabric store business.