Indian court halts demolition of Muslim-founded university
Appeals authority suspends order to raze 38 buildings at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, pausing latest action against institution established by jailed politician Azam Khan
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — An appeals authority in northern India has temporarily halted the demolition of 38 buildings at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, offering relief to an institution founded by jailed Muslim opposition leader Azam Khan that has faced years of legal and administrative action under the government of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The Divisional Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh on Monday directed the Rampur district administration to maintain the status quo until the next hearing, suspending a demolition order that targeted 38 of the university’s 40 buildings.
The Rampur Development Authority had alleged that the buildings were constructed without the required approvals and ordered the university to remove them, warning that authorities would otherwise carry out the demolitions.
The order threatened to raze most of the campus of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, a private institution established in Rampur by Khan, a senior leader of the opposition Samajwadi Party and former member of Parliament.
Founded in 2006, the university was envisioned as a center of higher education for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly in western Uttar Pradesh.
Khan, once among Uttar Pradesh’s most influential Muslim politicians, has faced dozens of criminal cases involving allegations ranging from land disputes to corruption since the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state in 2017.
He has remained in prison since 2022 following controversial convictions in several cases. Khan and the Samajwadi Party have consistently maintained that the cases and repeated administrative action against the university are politically motivated and aimed at dismantling his political legacy.
The proposed demolition sparked protests by Samajwadi Party leaders and workers, who marched in Ayodhya and submitted a memorandum to India’s president seeking intervention to stop the action against the university.
Former Uttar Pradesh minister Tej Narayan Pandey, who led the protest, said authorities should allow the institution to rectify any technical or documentary deficiencies instead of demolishing nearly the entire campus.
He argued that alleged planning violations should be addressed through legal procedures rather than by destroying an educational institution.
The Divisional Commissioner’s order prevents the district administration from proceeding with the demolition while the appeal is heard but does not resolve the underlying dispute over the buildings.
The case comes amid continuing criticism of the Uttar Pradesh government over its extensive use of bulldozer demolitions against properties linked to Muslims and political opponents.
Human rights organizations have argued that such actions have increasingly been used as punitive measures, while India’s Supreme Court has repeatedly stressed that demolitions must follow due legal process and cannot be carried out as a form of punishment.
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