A 70-year-old mosque, listed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation as a heritage building, is being pulled down to make a bigger one and conservationists and some locals are extremely upset that the authorities have not stepped in to stop the demolition.
The demolition began on March 21 and much of the Gholam Rasool Mosque on Shamshul Huda Road is rubble now, the minarets fallen.
"The masjid could only fit 400 people. The others had to do namaz on the road, causing difficulties to people. Since we had adjoining land, we decided to build a mosque where 8,000 people could pray together," said Amiruddin Ahmed, spokesperson for Ayesha Khatoon Masjid Welfare Committee, which is in charge of the mosque.
But Abdul Majid, who lives in the area, points out that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation's website lists the mosque as a grade 1 heritage building. "This is an old masjid and beautiful. When I suddenly saw it being demolished, I felt bad. There was a board that said it was a heritage site. It was removed," he alleged.
Conservationist GM Kapur of INTACH said the committee could have had the mosque delisted and then demolished it if there was a compulsion to do so.
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