The Uttarakhand High Court has told the police and civil administration to ensure law and order in and around Uttarkashi’s Jama Masjid amid demands from Hindutva groups that the 55-year-old mosque be demolished.

A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal on November 22 directed the district magistrate and senior superintendent of police to ensure that no untoward incidents occur in the area. The case is slated to be heard again on Wednesday.

Hindutva groups have been demanding that the mosque be demolished, claiming that it was built illegally. However, the district administration had said that the mosque was built legally in 1969, and was registered with all the necessary documents, according to The Times of India.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has called for a mahapanchayat, or a mega conclave, against the mosque on December 1.

In this backdrop, an organisation named the Alpasankhyak Seva Samiti approached the High Court seeking directions to protect the mosque.

The petition said that the Jama Masjid was built in 1969 on privately purchased land, and that it was registered as a Waqf property in 1987. A waqf is a property given for a religious, educational or charitable cause by Muslims.

“However, in September 2024, the Hindu outfit leaders – Jitendra Singh Chauhan, Swami Darshan Bharti, Sonu Singh Negi, Lakhpat Singh Bhandari, and Anuj Walia – who identify themselves as members of the Sanyukt Sanatan Dharam Raksha Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, began threatening to demolish the mosque,” the petition said, according to The New Indian Express.

The petitioners alleged that the Hindutva leaders spread false information about the mosque’s legality and also engaged in hate speech against Muslims.

On October 24, the Uttarkashi town witnessed violent clashes during a rally led by Hindutva groups to demand the demolition of the mosque.

Muslim-owned shops were vandalised and four police officers were injured in the scuffle, the newspaper reported. The police resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the protestors.

The escalation came after months of organised protests against the mosque, with Hindutva activists staging sit-ins and submitting repeated requests to district officials demanding its demolition.