Land Jihad: A Pattern of Unauthorised Religious Encroachments on Public Land

 

The year 2025 has exposed the scale and persistence of illegal encroachments on government land in Sambhal district, where repeated investigations and administrative actions uncovered unauthorised occupation of public property under religious pretexts by members of the Muslim community. A compilation of 12 major incidents during the year reveals a troubling pattern in which government land, including roads, ponds, parks, school plots, Panchayat land and municipal property, was encroached upon through the construction of mosques, dargahs, mazars, graveyards, shops and residential structures. Many of these constructions had existed for decades without any legal sanction.

 

 

The most consequential development occurred on 30 December 2025, when the Sambhal district administration completed a survey of eight bighas of government land at Gata No. 32/2 in a revenue village located near the Shahi Jama Masjid and Shri Harihar Temple. The land, recorded entirely as a graveyard in revenue documents, revealed 22 separate encroachments, including shops and permanent constructions, none of which were reflected in official records.

 

 

The location is significant. The same stretch had witnessed violent clashes during a survey on 24 November 2024, resulting in four deaths due to gunfire and the arrest of 79 individuals, including women. Investigators later noted that stones were allegedly hurled at security forces from the rooftops of the very shops that were subsequently identified as illegal constructions.

 

 

 

On 4 November 2025, the revenue department launched a sweeping anti-encroachment drive along Bahjoi Road, demolishing illegal mosques, a dargah, boundary walls of a graveyard and multiple shops built on road and drainage land. In one instance, a dargah erected on road land was shifted by its management committee following administrative instructions. Similar removals were carried out in Chaudhary Sarai and Mohalla Ther, where drains had been covered with slabs to facilitate illegal occupation.

 

 

 

In Saidangali–Manauta, a 30-year-old mosque built on 262 square metres of public park land near Shri Kalki Dham Temple was demolished on 14 October 2025. The action followed months of legal proceedings in the case of Gram Sabha vs Jameel Ahmed, in which revenue courts confirmed the encroachment. The demolition was carried out under PAC protection after multiple notices and eviction orders were issued.

 

 

In Salempur Salar village, officials identified extensive encroachments on land reserved for Panchayat and school purposes. These included 25 to 30 shops and 15 to 20 houses, along with religious structures. Red markings were issued in September, and residents were warned of imminent bulldozer action if the land was not vacated voluntarily.

 

 

 

Some of the most striking operations occurred on 13 August 2025 in Sher Khan Sarai, where more than three bighas of government land that had been used as a graveyard for years were reclaimed. Graves were demolished in the presence of a heavy police force and RRF units, with drone surveillance monitoring the operation. Officials confirmed that no claimant came forward despite due notices being issued under Section 67.

 

 

In several cases, mosque committees themselves dismantled illegal portions after receiving official notices. On 18 July 2025, the committee of the Phoolwali Mosque on Bahjoi Road voluntarily removed an illegal extension to facilitate road widening, thereby avoiding confrontation. Similar voluntary actions were observed in Sarai Tareen, where an illegal minaret constructed over a drain was removed.

 

 

Chandausi emerged as a hotspot, with repeated cases involving municipal land. In March 2025, authorities uncovered a mosque and 34 houses built on 6.5 bighas of Nagar Palika land, with some beneficiaries allegedly having received funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Notices were issued demanding ownership documents, which residents failed to produce.

 

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Earlier, on 2 February 2025, an illegal mazar constructed on a government pond was removed. Local residents alleged that the structure had been used for gatherings by a self-styled tantrik and that complaints during the previous Samajwadi Party government had gone unaddressed.

 

 

The year began with a startling revelation on 2 January 2025, when a Muslim delegation submitted documents claiming that police stations, temples and government buildings in Kot Purvi fell under Waqf property. An administrative investigation found that the 1929 waqfnama cited in support of the claim was unregistered and forged. Police have since initiated proceedings related to fraud and criminal conspiracy.