India: Police Launch Brutal Baton Charge on Muslims Defending 600-Year-Old Historic Royal Mosque
Indian media reported that police and administration took provocative action despite an agreement to remove part of the mosque for a road-widening project ahead of the 2028 Simhastha Kumbh Hindu religious festival.
DELHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Sep, 2026) Police in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India, launched an assault on Muslims defending a 600-year-old historic royal mosque. According to Indian media, part of the historic mosque had been marked for demolition under a road-widening project. Local Muslims have been staging a continuous sit-in inside the mosque for several days to protect it.
Police and the administration again arrived with bulldozers, triggering intense clashes between local residents and police, during which police carried out a brutal baton charge and used tear gas shelling.
According to the report, the mosque’s representative committee and the administration had agreed on Sunday night that the three-foot section of the mosque where prayers are not offered would be removed as part of the road-widening project. After people peacefully returned home following Fajr prayers on Monday, officials suddenly arrived at the mosque again at around 8 a.m. and allegedly threatened to immediately demolish the marked section with a bulldozer.
Indian media reported that Muslims felt the agreement reached the previous night was not being honoured, prompting people to begin gathering outside the mosque again. To control the situation, police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, leading to clashes between protesters and police.
The report said a dispute between the two sides over the mosque’s minaret also remains unresolved. Local residents said they had offered to build a new minaret directly behind the existing one before removing it, but the administration rejected the proposal. Meanwhile, Ujjain Superintendent of Police Pradeep Sharma told journalists that the Muslim community and the mosque committee were themselves removing the section of the mosque falling within the road-widening zone, with complete consensus and cooperation, in view of the 2028 Simhastha Kumbh festival.