Students demand mosque removal from Varanasi college campus

Varanasi (UP), Dec 6 (PTI) A large number of students on Friday staged a protest at Udai Pratap College in Varanasi demanding removal of a mosque located on the institute's campus.

About 500 students carrying saffron flags and raising 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans assembled at the college gate on Friday.

However, a large police force already present there prevented them from entering the college, officials said.

The development came days after tension gripped the college when a section of students on Tuesday recited Hanuman Chalisa near the mosque when 'namaaz' was being offered there, prompting the police to detain seven persons for a brief period.

Former student union leader Vivekanand Singh contented that since the land for the tomb does not belong to the Waqf Board, it should be removed from the campus.

"The students and alumni of the college together staged a protest demanding removal of the tomb from the campus. But the police did not allow us to enter the college. If 'namaaz' can be offered at the tomb, students should also be allowed to recite Hanuman Chalisa there," Singh said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cantt), Vidush Saxena, said, "Adequate police force was deployed at the college gate. A group of students came to express their views, with some of them turning a little aggressive. But police calmed them down." Amid tension in the college, police on Thursday restricted outsiders' entry to the campus, allowing only students with valid identity cards.

In a related development, students of the college have formed a 'student court' and sent an 11-point letter to the Uttar Pradesh Waqf Board, demanding a response within 15 days on the status of the mosque and its ownership.

Separately, Mohammad Yaseen, Joint Secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, said he wrote to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board on Tuesday itself to check the status of the mosque.

"The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board has clarified that its 2018 notice claiming the mosque as Waqf property was cancelled on January 18, 2021. There is no reason for the current controversy," Yaseen said.

Tension broke out after students protested against "outsiders" offering prayers at the mosque, citing concerns about unauthorised entry into the college campus.

A local official said the college management reached out to the administration, seeking verification of those entering the campus and that police have since been vigilant to prevent further disruptions.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board claimed the mosque on the college campus and the land in its vicinity as Waqf properties, a claim rejected by the college administration.

A notice was sent to Udai Pratap College in 2018, claiming that the mosque on its campus and the college land were donated to the Waqf Board by the Nawab of Tonk and therefore, the college campus is Waqf property, principal DK Singh said earlier.

"The notice came from Wasim Ahmed Khan, a resident of Varanasi. The then secretary of the college responded to the notice, saying the mosque was built illegally and the property of the college belonged to a trust which could neither be bought, nor sold," Singh said, adding that the Waqf Board tried to build a mosque in 2022 but police stopped it after the college administration complained.

The principal also alleged that the mosque is stealing electricity from the college and using it illegally.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Varuna Zone), CK Meena, said the dispute dates back to 2022, when the mosque's construction was stopped on the college administration's complaint. PTI