Varanasi college: Bar on outsiders’ entry after ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ row

Amid escalating tensions at the Uday Pratap College in Varanasi over a mosque located on its premises, police on Thursday (December 5) restricted outsiders' entry to the campus, allowing only students with valid identity cards.

The move follows Tuesday's (December 3) unrest after students recited Hanuman Chalisa when namaz was being offered near the mosque. Seven men were briefly detained after the row on Tuesday, according to the local police.

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Additional Commissioner of Police, Varanasi Cantt area, Vidush Saxena said the students were adamant about reciting Hanuman Chalisa near the mosque in the college premises on Tuesday.

"The police pacified them and sent them back. The police also detained seven students who were released in the evening," he said.

Protest against ‘outsiders’ entering college premises

However, student leader Vivekanand Singh of Uday Pratap College claimed Hanuman Chalisa was recited on Tuesday to protest against "outsiders" gathering at the mosque to offer prayers.

"We have no problem if the students here offer namaaz or worship in the mosque or temple on the college premises. But we do not accept that outsiders are gathering here in the name of offering namaz on the college premises," he said.

Vivekanand Singh on Thursday said, "Police personnel are stationed at the college gate, checking identity cards to ensure that no outsiders enter the campus. A group of students is also monitoring the gate."

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He added that no one came to offer namaz on Thursday and that additional precautions will be taken on Friday (December 6) during the "Jumma" prayers.

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

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 regarding the status of the mosque and its ownership.

‘No reason for current controversy’

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

"The Uttar Pradesh 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 claimed.

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The college's principal DK Singh said a notice was sent to the institute in 2018 claiming the mosque located on the campus was donated to the Waqf Board by the Nawab of Tonk and the land was a Waqf property.

Singh said the notice had come from Wasim Ahmed Khan, a resident of Varanasi.

In reply to the notice, the college administration had said that the mosque was built illegally, while the property of the college belongs to the trust and it can neither be bought nor sold.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Varuna Zone, Chandrakant Meena said that in 2022, construction work in the mosque was stopped on the complaint of the college administration.

(With agency inputs)