Mosque sealed in northern India as crackdown on Muslim spaces escalates

Authorities arrest mosque caretaker amid wave of arrests and demolitions targeting Muslims under India’s Hindu nationalist government

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Authorities in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh sealed a newly built mosque on Monday and arrested two members of its management, in what rights advocates say is part of an escalating crackdown on Muslim religious spaces under the country’s Hindu nationalist leadership.

According to police officials, the mosque in Muzaffarnagar district’s Bhopa area was allegedly constructed without required permits. “The mosque was sealed following complaints of illegal construction,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Aditya Bansal.

 A case has been filed against Nizamuddin, the mosque’s caretaker, and Yunus, the landowner — both of whom have been taken into custody.

But Rights Activists  say such actions are increasingly used as pretexts to target India’s Muslim minority. As reported by multiple rights groups and media outlets, public expressions of Islamic faith — including namaz (prayer) — have been met with legal action, arrests, and, in many cases, demolition orders. 

In several incidents across Uttar Pradesh, Muslims have been arrested for offering prayers inside their own homes or for praying in public during festivals like Eid, where crowds spill beyond mosque premises due to limited space.

The latest sealing comes on the heels of a sweeping campaign earlier this month in which more than 350 Islamic religious institutions — including mosques, madrassas, and Sufi shrines — were demolished or targeted for legal action. 

The state government, backed by right-wing Hindu groups and mainstream Indian media, brands such operations as “bulldozer action” against “extremism” — a euphemism used to justify religious persecution.

Under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a saffron-robed Hindu monk-turned-politician, Uttar Pradesh has become a flashpoint for what observers describe as the normalization of anti-Muslim policies in India. 

His government has overseen a dramatic rise in the use of anti-terror and property laws against Muslims, including the controversial seizure of homes, businesses, and religious sites deemed “illegal” or “encroached.”

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly condemned these actions, citing violations of religious freedom and due process. 

As the Yogi government continues to frame its bulldozer campaigns as necessary for law and order, legal experts argue that the state machinery is being used less to uphold the rule of law and more to advance a Hindu nationalist agenda — one that views India’s 200 million Muslims as outsiders in their own country.