Muslim journalist held for calling India mosque demolition ‘criminal’

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Indian police have arrested a Muslim journalist and social activist after she criticized hardline Hindu monk-politician Yogi Adityanath over the demolition of a historic mosque, raising fresh concerns over the use of criminal complaints against critics of powerful political figures.

Huda Zariwala was detained Monday in Saharanpur in northern Uttar Pradesh state after a video circulated online in which she condemned authorities for demolishing a decades-old mosque inside a government complex.

“The mosque of Muslims has been martyred. This is a criminal act. Who gave them the right to demolish the mosque?” Zariwala said in the recording. “The entire Muslim community stands against such people. We will not remain silent.”

According to police, a local lawyer, Dushyant Singh, subsequently filed a complaint alleging that Zariwala had made objectionable remarks against Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and one of the most prominent leaders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The complaint accused Zariwala of calling Adityanath a “criminal” and claimed her remarks had angered members of the public.

Police detained her when she arrived at Saharanpur’s Circuit House to protest against the mosque’s demolition.

Saharanpur police chief Abhinandan Singh said a case had been registered following Singh’s complaint and that authorities were examining the video and Zariwala’s alleged remarks before deciding on further legal action.

Zariwala has worked with media organizations in India and abroad, including BBC London and Saudi TV Channel 2, according to information provided by her associates.

Her arrest came two days after authorities deployed bulldozers under heavy police protection to demolish the mosque inside the Saharanpur district administration complex early Saturday.

Officials describe the structure as about 70 years old, while its management committee and local Muslims say it was around 150 years old and that documentary records of the mosque date to at least 1911.

The dispute over the mosque intensified after Vikas Tyagi, a former regional coordinator of the Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu nationalist organization, complained that it had been constructed illegally on government property.

Authorities subsequently initiated proceedings under a state law governing unauthorized occupation of public premises. A local court declared the mosque an unauthorized structure in July and ordered its eviction, while imposing a penalty of about 64.1 million Indian rupees ($678,375) for alleged encroachment.

The mosque committee challenged the decision, but a district court dismissed its appeal on Sept. 4. Authorities demolished the structure the following morning amid a substantial deployment of police and paramilitary personnel.

Adityanath, a saffron-robed Hindu monk who has governed India’s most populous state since 2017, has built a national reputation as one of the BJP’s most hardline Hindu nationalist leaders.

His administration has particularly faced criticism over its use of bulldozers to demolish properties belonging to people accused of crimes, a practice rights groups and critics say has disproportionately targeted Muslims and turned demolition into a form of collective punishment.

Zariwala’s arrest puts the focus not only on the destruction of the Saharanpur mosque but also on the space available for journalists and activists to publicly challenge government actions and powerful political leaders in India.