Tariq Road mosque: JUIF asks apex court to review its decision

KARACHI: A day after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered to demolish a mosque, a shrine and a cemetery built on amenity parks land near Tariq Road, Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUIF) on Wednesday announced that his party would protect the mosque under all circumstances.

JUIF Sindh leader Qari Muhammad Usman, while talking to worshipers during his visit to the Madina Masjid on Tariq Road, said that the apex court should review its decision about the demolition of the mosque. “We will give our lives but not allow the mosque to be martyred or even a single brick will be demolished,” said Usman. "If Bani Gala and Hayat Residency can be regularised, why not mosques?”

Usman said the mosque was built 41 years ago and associated with the Jamia Uloom Al Islamia Binori Town seminary. “A mosque cannot be moved to another location under the Islamic teachings.”

The JUIF leader said that the PECHS’s secretary had clearly stated in his NOC that permission has been granted to build a mosque in Dilaksha Park for the needs of the area people. “Also, audits have been conducted and all utility bills are paid every year since then. Every year an audited is conducted by a registered committee.”

JUI-F Sindh’s finance secretary Maulana Abdul Ghayyas, District East’s secretary-general Hafiz Farooq Saeed and the mosque’s committee members were also present. On Tuesday, a two-judge SC bench directed the Karachi commissioner and other officials to remove the Madina Mosque constructed on a park within a week and restore the land for its original purpose.