Heavy Police Deployment in Ujjain as Mosque Demolition Resumes After Clashes

Ujjain: Security remained tight in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday, a day after violent clashes broke out over the partial demolition of the 650-year-old Shahi Masjid as part of a road-widening project ahead of the Simhastha Kumbha Mela. Shops around the mosque were cleared under police supervision on Tuesday morning, and scaffolding material was brought in as senior officials monitored the area, which remained peaceful with a heavy security presence.

Monday's unrest saw stone-pelting break out during the demolition, prompting police to use tear gas shells and a baton charge to disperse the crowd, with Rapid Action Force personnel also deployed. Around 2,500 police personnel were mobilised, with 15 people detained and 7 to 10 booked in connection with the violence. The Madhya Pradesh High Court later disposed of pleas filed by the Muslim side after a settlement was reached with the civic body, agreeing to a 3-foot demolition, and local leaders reportedly cooperated in the process following the settlement.

The episode adds to a longer pattern of demolitions at Muslim-owned or Muslim-linked properties in BJP-governed states that opposition leaders and civil rights groups have repeatedly criticised as discriminatory "bulldozer politics." State BJP governments, including Madhya Pradesh's, have consistently defended such demolitions as lawful anti-encroachment or infrastructure measures unconnected to religion, a position the Madhya Pradesh High Court's ruling in the Ujjain case echoed by grounding the mosque's partial removal in the statutory road-widening plan rather than any communal consideration.