2nd march against Kullu mosque despite legal stamp

Kullu: Day after the Kullu administration clarified that the town mosque was legal, various Hindu outfits still staged a protest march in defiance of prohibitory orders to demand its removal. A heavy police presence kept the situation peaceful.
Dozens of other officers on Monday protected the march’s route from Ramsheela to the Akahara Bazar location of Jama Masjid.The sloganeering marchers tried to storm the mosque upon reaching Akahara Bazar but police foiled their attemp without applying force and let them move on to Lower Dhalpur and Dhalpur bazars after about an hour of demonstrating. This was the month’s second major Hindu protest against this mosque after Sept 14.
The participants claimed the structure to be “illegal”, while the Kullu administration had clarified on Sunday that the Punjab Waqf Board had valid permissions and possession, although at a press conference, subdivisional magistrate Vikas Shukla claimed to have noted a minor deviation from the original construction map, while mentioning that a case for its regularisation was pending with the town and country planning director. The mosque built over 980 square metres is a pre-Independence structure referenced in a gazette notification of Aug 15, 1970.
The Waqf Board had moved the initial request for its reconstruction with the Kullu administration in 1999 and secured permission for a building a ground floor with three more storeys. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was first to question its legality and stability, claiming in 2017 that its busy market location made the building a potential hazard during an earthquake. However, Kullu’s municipal council had declared the mosque stable after an inquiry and issued a confirmation certificate in 2019.