On 6th January, a 45-year-old illegal madrasa in Pavangad which lies next to Panhalagad was finally demolished by the state government amid a strong police presence. No one was permitted to go near the area during the demolition. OpIndia published a report on the illegal encroachment in July last year. Hindu organisations also complained about it to the administration which resulted in the action that was conducted extremely covertly at the administrative level for the past week. The actual procedure began under the direction of the senior officials and the facility was dismantled after midnight.
The operation began at around 2 in the night and was concluded at about 9 o’clock after seven hours. The District Police Chief and other high-ranking officials had been camped out in Pavangad Fort since the previous evening. All roads leading to the region were closed. The area comes under the jurisdiction of the Revenue Department.
A huge Muslim community now resides in Pavangad, a fort constructed by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the year 1673. A madrasa was constructed taking advantage of this in 1979 by a man named Isma Sayed. At present 45 children from West Bengal and Bihar were studying there and all of them were moved to a madrasa in Shiroli on the 5th of January evening after which the major step was undertaken.
About 400 police officers were stationed along the route from Budhwar Peth to Pavangad while the authorities maintained a high level of secrecy regarding the demolition. The individuals in attendance included the Deputy Superintendent of Police, the Tehsildar and the Sub-Divisional Officer of Panhala among others. The removal of the madrasa was completed the following noon.
The local Hindu community residing in Panhalgad town of the city complained that a madrasa named ‘Madrasa Arbiya Zinatul-Quran’ has been illegally built on the fort of Pavangad. It was established on government land and was reportedly registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860. The students in the establishment were not local and came from various parts of Delhi, Bihar and West Bengal.
Bajrang Dal also wrote a letter to the District and the State Administration which read, “The madrasa on the historic fort of Pavangad is illegal and the students studying here are not from Maharashtra. The historic significance of the fort is being maligned by such illegal encroachments. Many Muslims have also constructed their residences on the fort. We demand strict action against such illegal encroachments and also demand the removal of these structures to maintain the sanctity of the historic fort.”
The district administration took cognizance of the incident and confirmed that the madrasa was constructed on government property. “It is govt wasteland (mulki pad jameen) which falls under the government’s control. We have begun the probe into the case. Action will be taken against any kind of illegality,” Panhalgad Tehsildar Manavi Shinde had then informed OpIndia.
