'Might Be Our Last Namaz Here': A Demolition Fear & Gloom At Race Course Mosque

Muslims offered prayers in the mosque amid uncertainty. Meanwhile, displaced families are given homes 50 kms away.

Teary-eyed Muslims prayed in uncertainty at the century-old Race Course mosque on 23 October, Friday. Many of them gathered, along with some women who queued to go to a temple adjacent to the mosque. But only the mosque — which predates Independence — has got an eviction notice.

“This might be the last namaz we read here, today is the 6th day. They can demolish the masjid anytime now,” Alfaz, a 23-year-old who lives around the area, told The Quint on 23 October.

“I have grown up coming here, so whatever happens it is important for us to be here for today’s namaz as an ode, as respect." he added.

This is a mosque which has existed since the pre-independence era, located inside the race course less than 10 minutes away from the Prime Minister’s residence in Lok Kalyan Marg.

Delhi Gazette notification of 1977 notes the mosque and the graveyard attached to it as a Waqf property. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) notified it as a grade 2 heritage site in 2009 as well.

However, declaring that the premises as “unauthorised," Land and Development Office (L&DO) served the eviction notice on 19 October to vacate the mosque within six days.

That was not all. We also found out that the area housed nearly 700 families and while their homes have been demolished, some were given rehabilitation many kilometers away.

While the utilities were disconnected few weeks ago, the water supply in taps reportedly resumed on 23 October as told to The Quint by a few worshippers. The mosque's electricity connection has not resumed.

The Imam of the mosque, Mohammad Haroon put out a video statement on 24 October and said that the Waqf Board had started their probe. "They have issued letters and directly spoken with the concerned departments regarding this matter, and discussions are ongoing, for which I have high hopes. Until now, the requirement for water and electricity has not been fully met, but hopefully, action will be taken on that soon as well."

During The Quint's visit yesterday, several right-wing miscreants gathered outside the barricading of the mosque and peddled unfounded claims like, "Iss masjid ke neeche mandir tha." (There was a temple underneath this mosque before).

'We Stayed Outside Our Broken Houses’

But beyond the disruption by the right-wing, we met Shahid, previously a resident of the areawho pointed to the empty quiet lanes and the barricading that makes it hard to see past. He was also served an eviction notice.

“Our ancestors have been here since the British rule. This is our village, this is our birth place,” he told The Quint. “We still come here everyday to just see it. We are struggling to just suddenly leave this place.”

Residents at Race Course had received an eviction notice from the L&DO on the pretext that the camps were located in a protected zone and located next to an operational Air Force Station. It was cited that the removal of these houses was necessary to strengthen security. The residents had approached the Delhi High Court on the matter but the court declined to interfere.

Shahid, helpless that he lost the home he invested years to built, shared a video of home. An apartment style house with tiled flooring, and a freshly painted green section beside a big hall. With a calendar, family photos, repainted patches and matching curtains in the background, it was clear that he and his family had spent decades there. An evidence to show that his family lived there for years.

Various people confirmed to The Quint that all the houses inside have been demolished, while the main demolition took place on 7 October and then the utilities were cut off.

“At 5 AM on 7 October, there was a whole army of forces. We were here the whole time they were bulldozing, we were here even on 8 October. We stayed outside our broken houses,” one of Shahid’s family members said.

“What will we do when our houses have already been bulldozed? Our family is broken. We were four brothers living together for generations, now we are all scattered," he said.

Residents Get Rehabilitation '50 Kms Away'

The families that lived in the houses demolished in Bhai Ram Camp, Masjid Camp and DID Camp have been allocated flats in Savda Ghevra by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).

But many have not moved there.

"There is no school there, they are asking for 25,000 donation for admission, there is no hospital, everyone is scattered,” said Dev, a local whose house was also demolished.

“Less than 60% people are actually living in the allocated area. Others have gone back to their village, the people who had some money are living nearby on rent now. I have to live nearby because my work and my children’s school is here," he added.

A local who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “I do not believe in Allah or Bhagwan, I do not care about which government is in power either, but what is happening is very wrong. People of two to three generations, who have lived and died here. The reallotment flat can not be compared to having their own makaans they were living in here."

He continued stating that their jobs are now compromised as the new place is 50 kms away. "So this has put them 10 years back in life. Whether the fight is about politics, religion or anything else, it is the poor man that loses out in life. They have broken all the houses inside.”

Residents said that communities co-existed and lived here decades before this area came to be known as Lutyens Delhi.

“In 1910 the race course was formed, everybody who worked there lived here. The Hindus made a mandir, the Muslims a masjid. Over time more people came and the number of families grew,” said a resident who did not wish to be named.

Dev remembered it the same way. “Anytime we had any programme, everybody would donate, the Muslims would donate to the mandir, we all lived as a family. I remember my childhood, we grew up watching races from the outside, sometimes we would manage to sneak in.”

“The biggest problem is, it is not about Hindu or Muslim, I am a human first,” another resident said. “We all go to the mandir. They also come to the masjid. This government wants to make it about religion, but we are all humans first.”

Dev to The Quint

The Waqf board has claimed that the mosque, which is also protected under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991 is “approximately 300 years old.”

On 19 October, the Delhi Waqf Board wrote a letter to the L&DO demanding that water and electricity supply be reinstated for the mosque, after the supply was cut following the demolition of homes within the Race Course grounds. This response, however, came after much scrutiny and many requests made to the Waqf board, including by Mohammed Harun, the Imam of the mosque.

In a video that the Imam recorded from within the mosque some days ago he said that he had previously made multiple requests to the Waqf board to approach the courts. After which he approached the court on 15 October himself.

“....The court said, ‘If it is Waqf Board property, why is the board not the one approaching us? Why did they not give permission to their imam? Why did they not nominate him?’ NDMC lied in court and said that because of the ongoing work, water cannot be provided. The court dismissed my writ petition.”

Huda Zardiwala, a political analyst and a journalist stated that the Waqf Board has not been as supportive or proactive as they should be.

“For the past 12 years, Modi has been living here. There was no security concern. Many PMs have been living here before him, none of them had security concerns. Five generations of people have been living here, 700 families were holmed in these three colonies. We’re talking about them staying here since before 1947 and there was no security concern before this. How all of a sudden these people become a ‘matter of security’ for the PM’s residence, is something I will never understand," remarked Zardiwala.

(We have also written to L&DO about the eviction notice, the possible demolition and the utility connections but have not received any response yet. Their reply will be added once received).