Hindu groups halt mosque construction in India’s Uttar Pradesh
Villagers say mosque built with Hindu-Muslim cooperation was stopped after objections from Hindu far-right organizations
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Authorities in India’s Uttar Pradesh state have halted construction of a mosque after Hindu far-right groups raised objections, triggering tensions in a village where residents say the structure had been built peacefully for more than two years with support from both Muslim and Hindu villagers.
The dispute emerged in Amoni village in Deoria district, a region in the BJP-ruled northern state where controversies involving mosques and Muslim religious sites have increasingly surfaced in recent years.
Villagers said the mosque had been under construction for nearly two and a half years through local donations and community cooperation without any major dispute until Hindu extremist groups alleged that the structure lacked official permission.
According to residents, most of the mosque had already been completed and only roof work remained when district officials and police arrived at the site and ordered construction to stop.
Locals questioned why authorities intervened only after the structure was nearly complete despite construction taking place openly for years.
“If there was any legal problem, why did the administration remain silent for two and a half years?” one villager said. “The work was happening openly in front of everyone.”
Residents said construction materials were later removed from the site following the administration’s action.
A local resident identified as Shahadat said villagers from different communities had contributed financially toward the mosque’s construction.
“We were constructing the mosque with support from local people,” he said. “Now the administration has stopped the work. We will apply for permission and continue once approval is given.”
Several villagers said the mosque had become a symbol of local communal harmony before outside groups intervened and turned the issue into a controversy.
“People here lived peacefully. Hindus and Muslims both helped in the construction,” another resident said. “Suddenly, the matter has become controversial and everyone is worried.”
District officials have not yet publicly clarified the mosque’s legal status or specified the exact grounds on which construction was halted.
The incident has intensified debate over the handling of Muslim religious institutions in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu hardliner whose administration has repeatedly faced allegations of targeting Muslim communities through demolitions, mosque disputes and restrictions linked to religious practices.
Civil rights advocates and Muslim organizations have long accused authorities in BJP-ruled states of selectively enforcing regulations against Muslim religious structures while overlooking similar issues involving Hindu sites.
Disputes involving mosques, shrines and Islamic schools have sharply increased across several parts of India in recent years, often after campaigns by Hindu supremacist groups demanding investigations into Muslim religious properties or claiming historical grievances linked to mosques.
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