NEW DELHI: Chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission Dr Zafarful Islam on Thursday said that the report claiming that 54 illegal mosques mushrooming on government land” in the city was found ‘incorrect’.
A month ago June 18, West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma claimed that mosques were mushrooming in his constituency.
Following which, a five-member committee was set up on June 24 to look into the issue of “illegal mushrooming of mosques on government land” in the national capital.
“We formed a fact-finding committee a month ago after BJP MP Parvesh Verma claimed that mosques were being built in Delhi illegally. He also gave a report to Delhi LG about 54 such mosques. Those reports are found to be false by fact-finding committee,” Zafarful Islam said in a press conference.
FIR against BJP MP
The fact-finding committee has given 8 recommendations to Commission and asked lodge an FIR against BJP MP Parvesh Sharma for spreading rumours against a particular community.
“We have given 8 recommendations to Commission, one of them to start legal proceedings and lodge an FIR against BJP MP Parvesh Verma for spreading rumours against a particular community and trying to disturb peace and harmony in Delhi,” the fact-finding committee said.
The report titled ‘The Legal Status of Religious Spaces in and around West Delhi: A Fact Finding Report’ was submitted on July 30.
Mosque Targetted
The Chairman had earlier claimed that mosques are being targetted in the wake of upcoming elections in the national capital.
“So far we have not conducted any survey. When this issue came to us, we realised people are trying to politicise the issue for the upcoming elections. There are several illegal construction taking place in the national capital. But targetting only mosques is a kind of politics which should be avoided by the leaders,” he had said.
MPs need to speak responsibly
“MPs need to speak responsibly”, the chairman said on Thursday. “We observed that this was being used on a communal line. This is not right. We just want the truth to come out. Illegal religious structures should go, be it mosques or temples,” reported Scroll.in.
His response came after Verma’s demanded an inquiry into the illegal mushrooming of mosques.
In the letter to Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, Verma had said that if the “menace” of mosques construction is not attended on priority, it will take an “ugly turn”, which will be difficult to manage later.
Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari had also said that he will conduct a survey on mosques in his constituency.