Hyderabad: Shabbir asks AIMPLB to take up Secretariat mosques demolition issue

Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Saturday urged the All India Muslim Personal Law Board to take up the issue of demolition of two Secretariat mosques.

"The demolition of two mosques in the Secretariat is no different from the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. We had contested a legal battle for several decades as we wanted Babri Masjid to be reconstructed at the same place where it existed till December 6, 1992," Shabbir Ali told AIMPLB Chairman Moulana Rabey Hasan Nadvi in an open letter on Saturday.

"In the case of Secretariat mosques, there is no dispute over the ownership of the Masjid land. Further, this issue is not a communal issue as KCR government has hurt the sentiments of both the communities by demolishing two mosques and a temple. Therefore, I request the Board to take up the issue of Masjid-e-Hashmi and Masjid-e-Dafatir Mohammedia in the Secretariat on an immediate basis," Shabbir Ali said.

"The Telangana government, headed by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, has illegally demolished two old mosques, along with other structures in the Secretariat complex. Both the mosques quite old and 5-time prayers were being offered in them till 2-3 days before they were secretly demolished by the TRS government. As the then Cabinet Minister I had the privilege of laying the foundation stone for the reconstruction and renovation of both the mosques. The foundation stone for the Masjid-e-Hashmi near D-Block in the Secretariat was laid by (Late) Moulana Abdullah Qureshi Sahab, the then Imam of Mecca Masjid, and myself on April 28, 2005. This mosque was renovated at a cost of Rs. 10 lakh," he informed.