Authorities in the BJP-ruled Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have demolished a 150-year-old Muslim shrine, continuing a systematic campaign targeting Islamic religious sites under the guise of infrastructure and redevelopment projects. According to Kashmir Media Service, the shrine of Hazrat Bairam Shah Miyan, popularly known as Neem Wali Ziyarat, was bulldozed in Rampur district on the pretext of a road widening project.

Authorities claimed the shrine was obstructing traffic flow and had to be removed to facilitate road expansion. The demolition was carried out during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday amid a heavy police deployment. The area was sealed off, traffic diverted and public movement restricted before bulldozers razed the historic shrine. The debris was immediately cleared, while workers the following day also cut down a decades-old neem tree that stood beside the shrine.

The shrine’s caretaker, Nasir Miyan, who had looked after the site for nearly three decades, said he had exhausted all legal and administrative avenues to save the shrine, but the authorities went ahead with the demolition. The overnight operation sparked anger among local residents, prompting the authorities to maintain a heavy police presence in the area to prevent protests.

The demolition has added to growing criticism of the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the continued removal of Muslim religious sites in the name of road expansion, anti-encroachment drives and redevelopment projects. Observers and Muslim organizations say the repeated demolition of mosques, shrines and Islamic seminaries after declaring them “unauthorized” reflects a pattern of selective action that disproportionately targets Muslim places of worship and undermines the community’s religious and cultural heritage. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)