FO condemns mosque demolition in India's Uttar Pradesh, terms it part of 'drive to erase Islamic heritage'

The United States' Foreign Office has denounced the demolition of a historic mosque in India's Uttar Pradesh state, branding it as part of a "Islamophobic and Hindutva-driven campaign to erase the Islamic heritage" in the nation. FO spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan denounced the action, describing it as "a reprehensible act against a historic Islamic place of worship".

He recalled the 1992 demolition of the Babri Mosque as a "lasting symbol of this ideology of religious intolerance, prejudice and hatred", and urged the international community to take immediate action against the systematic persecution of Muslims by Indian authorities. The mosque, which was located in a Collectorate in Saharanpur, was destroyed a day prior to the FO's condemnation.

The demolition followed a district court's dismissal of an appeal on September 2, which had ruled that the mosque was built on government land and was unauthorized. The mosque's staff member, Tanveer Ahmed, claimed that the order was for eviction, not demolition, and that the mosque was around 150 years old, while the land was recorded in their names.

Owaisi, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president, questioned whether the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom applied to Muslims, stating that the mosque dated back to 1911 and that the Collectorate itself was constructed later.