A structure with cracked domes in the Badshahpur village on the Gurugram-Sohna road is being used a godown by a family living there for over five decades. This is one of the many old mosques in Gurugram that have either been deserted or illegally occupied and are no more being used for praying.
The Haryana Waqf Board recently gave a list of 19 such mosques to the Gurugram administration amid the controversy over Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's saying that namaz should not be offered in open spaces.
While in a publicly released statement, Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon Chandra Mohan Shekhar Khare said on Wednesday that encroachments from the land around these mosques have been removed but the ground reality is different.
DNA visited some of these structures to see that they barely resemble a mosque.
"It is now known as Paari Sunaar's home as his family encroached it several decades ago. If it is recovered, it will be a great help to the Muslims who go for Namaz to far off places or sometimes offer namaz out in the open," said Abdul Hamid, Imam of a mosque in the next block. When DNA visited, the gates were closed and the people refused to talk about it.
"We are hopeful that the administration will do something in the matter. If these 19 mosques get released, there will be more space for people to offer namaz and the issue will then resolve on its own," said Raheesh Khan, Chairman of the Haryana Waqf Board.
These are located in Jharsa, Badshahpur, Bhondsi, Naurangpur, Farukh Nagar, Khurrampur, Dhankot, Daulatpur, Fazilpur, Mouika, Wazirabad, and Garhi Harsaru.
Of the two mosques in Jharsa village, one is now demolished and the vacant plot serves as a stable for a local family and the other is illegally occupied. "There used to be a mosque here even before I was born, but now it is just a plot where we keep her cattle," said Abhishek, a local kid.
There has been no activity around any of the three monuments that DNA visited and the locals remain clueless about the ongoing disruptions by the right-wing groups and the demand of the Haryana Waqf Board to release the monuments.
