Protest against BMC which went to demolish the illegal part of the mosque in Dharavi, 5 days time given

Mumbai : Tension escalated in Mumbai's Dharavi slum on Saturday when hundreds of people took to the streets against BMC's plan to demolish the illegal part of a mosque. During this, people stopped the municipal corporation officials from entering the mosque street. Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered outside the Dharavi police station and sat on the road. When the situation became tense, people associated with the mosque management talked to BMC officials and asked for 4 to 5 days to remove the encroachment, to which the officials agreed.

During this time, a large number of policemen were deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident. A police officer said, “A team of BMC officials from G-North administrative ward reached the spot around 9 am to demolish the alleged illegal portion of Mehboob-e-Subhani Mosque located on 90 Feet Road in Dharavi. Soon a large number of local residents gathered there. They stopped the municipal officials from entering the street where the mosque is located.”

Protest held outside Dharavi police station

Police officials said that during this time hundreds of people gathered outside Dharavi police station and sat on the road to protest against the move of the Municipal Corporation. A Municipal Corporation official said that BMC's G North Ward had issued a notice to remove the encroached part of the mosque and said that action will be taken according to this notice. He said that people gathered outside Dharavi police station and protested against the notice and stopped the officials from taking action.

Will remove the disputed part myself

The official said that in a joint meeting with municipal officials and Dharavi police, the trustees of the mosque have sought four-five days from the BMC to remove the illegal portion. The trustees have submitted a written request to the Deputy Commissioner of BMC and the Assistant Commissioner of G North Division. It states that they will remove the disputed part themselves during this period. The municipal body has accepted this request. Let us tell you that the densely populated Dharavi is considered Asia's largest slum.

Aditya Thackeray made allegations against the government

On this issue, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray has accused the Eknath Shinde-led government of making a “last attempt” to create a communal dispute before the upcoming assembly elections. He said, “The issue of mosque in Dharavi is the last attempt by the BJP and the Shinde government to create a dispute between Hindus and Muslims. The people of Dharavi were standing against the redevelopment project.”

Answer sought from BJP on Laddu issue

Aditya Thackeray alleged that the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies were trying to incite communal and caste violence. “On one hand they are saying that Hindus are being attacked in Bangladesh and on the other hand they are playing cricket with the Bangladesh team,” he told reporters. He also reacted on the Tirupati temple laddu issue and demanded that the prasad laddu be tested in an international laboratory and not in Gujarat. “This is a very sensitive matter. Jagan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu who are criticising each other on this issue have been allies of the BJP. The BJP should respond to this,” he said.

(With agency input)