New fight in HC over minaret of 18th century Ayodhya mosque, hearing on Monday

As the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya nears completion, a fight is on in the Allahabad high court over a minaret of an 18th century mosque "encroaching" on the proposed Ram Path, a road leading to the temple.

The matter will be heard by the Lucknow bench of the high court on Monday (July 24).

A minaret of Khajoor ki Masjid in Gudri Bazaar in the heart of Faizabad city is said to be encroaching on the proposed Ram Path by three metres.

In a tweet on Thursday, Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that "illegal attempts" are being made to demolish the minaret of the mosque for the widening of the Ram Path.

"The mosque committee has filed a petition in the high court. Trying to forcibly demolish the minaret is condemnable. UP CM should follow the law and respect this historical mosque of the Shia community," he tweeted in Hindi.

The mosque committee has prayed before the high court for the protection of the historical mosque via a writ petition on March 1 this year.

The high court issued a notice to the Ayodhya district magistrate the next day.

Talking to PTI, Ayodhya district magistrate Nitish Kumar said, "We have submitted our reply in the court. Thirteen other mosques falling on the way of Ram Path have been removed peacefully. We are going with the alignment of the road finalised by the government. The mosque committee had initially given its consent (for the demolition of minaret) but it later approached the court."

On April 21, the Ayodhya district administration filed its response before the court.

The mosque is said to have been built in 1750 by a Nawab of Awadh.

Parvez Hussain, the caretaker of the mosque, said, "If we remove this minaret then the whole mosque will come down because the architecture of this mosque is such that every brick is interconnected."

The proposed Ram Path will have four lanes and stretch 13 km from Saadatganj in Faizabad to Naya Ghaat on the banks of the Saryu river in Ayodhya.

The ground floor of the three-storey Ram temple in Ayodhya was in its final stages and the work on ancillary structures was going on in full swing for their completion by October this year, the temple authorities had said in June.