ISLAMABAD: After Lal Masjid started unauthorised construction on a plot adjacent to it in Sector G-6, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) swung into action on Wednesday and asked the mosque administration to halt the construction and remove the erected structure within 15 days.

The land on which the construction is ongoing had once housed Jamia Hafsa and the Children’s Library, which were demolished following the military operation in 2007.

After the operation, the government and the mosque administration, led by Maulana Abdul Aziz, reached an agreement under which the CDA provided an alternative site for the reconstruction of Jamia Hafsa in H-11.

Similarly, the CDA also altered the master plan for the G-6 civic centre and left the entire area around the mosque vacant. Previously, in the vicinity of the mosque, plots were reserved for a children’s library, a gymnasium, an author’s corner etc.

Civic body asks mosque admin to remove encroachment within 15 days or face action

The CDA said the master plan was changed after the mosque requested the administration not to allot these plots to anyone, as a number of people were killed on the site during the operation, including Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

In light of the agreement, this land was not allotted to anyone, but now the mosque is erecting structures on the same piece of land, prompting the intervention of the civic agency. On Wednesday, the CDA issued a notice to the mosque administration, directing it to stop the construction within 15 days.

The notice stated: “It has come to notice of the authority that following violations of the Islamabad Capital Territory Building Control Regulations 2020…have been committed on your mentioned premises: ‘Unauthorized/illegal construction without approval of building plans’.”

The notice issued to the Masjid Management Committee of Lal Masjid warned of action by the CDA enforcement directorate.

“The CDA will take action regarding removal of above-mentioned violations forcefully through Enforcement Directorate, CDA at your risk and cost,” read the notice, which was issued by the Building Control Directorate.

A CDA official confirmed that unauthorised construction was being carried out by the mosque administration. “…a notice has been issued, giving 15-day time to mosque administration to remove this violation,” he said and added that in 2018 the mosque administration had installed a board on the said land, claiming the ownership of the land. However, the CDA had asked them to remove the board.

Mufti Tehseen, who spoke on behalf of Maulana Aziz, told Dawn the PPP government had decided that the plot, where Jamia Hafsa once stood, would be made part of Lal Masjid. He added a new plot in H-11 was allocated to the mosque by the CDA for the construction of Jamia Hafsa.

He claimed the administration was creating hurdles in the construction work at the H-11 site. “We spent Rs40 million for the construction, but obstructions were created by various departments,” he alleged. According to Mufti Tehseen, he did not know about the CDA notice.

“We are not allowed to construct Jamia Hafsa in H-11 nor are we allowed to construct it in Sector G-6 [adjacent to the mosque]. Where are we supposed to go,” he asked, urging the government to comply with the Supreme Court decision as well as the commitments it made to the mosque administration.

Lal Masjid was built in 1965, with Maulana Mohammad Abdullah as its khateeb (prayer leader), who built his residential quarters on the land behind the mosque. A public children’s library was established next to the mosque in the 1980s, and in 1992, Jamia Hafsa was constructed on 7,500 square yards of land designated for a women’s library and a social club.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2023