A mosque located inside the Saharanpur collectorate complex was demolished on Saturday after a district court upheld an earlier order, declaring the structure an illegal encroachment on government land. The demolition has triggered strong protests from Opposition leaders and Muslim organisations.The demolition was carried out around 5 am amid heavy police deployment at the district magistrate’s office complex.The administration’s action followed a ruling by the district judge dismissing an appeal against an earlier civil court order that had held the religious structure to be an unauthorised construction on government property.Additional district government counsel (civil) Avnish Kumar said the property was recorded in revenue documents as government land and formed part of the collectorate premises.According to the government counsel, the case was filed in 2025 after an inquiry found that a rest house property had allegedly been converted into a mosque, with prayers being offered there and a portion of the land rented out. The matter was subsequently decided in favour of the government by the city magistrate and the claimants later filed an appeal.Kumar said the claimants had failed to produce revenue records establishing the existence of a mosque on the property. They had relied on a bill claiming that the mosque had been established in 1911, but the government contested the authenticity and evidentiary value of the document.The demolition has, however, drawn sharp criticism from Opposition leaders, who questioned the haste with which the structure was removed. They have alleged that the authorities did not allow sufficient time for the matter to be challenged before a higher court.Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hasan said the mosque had been sealed and the area barricaded after the lower court order, while attempts were being made to seek time to approach the High Court.She alleged that prominent people in Saharanpur were confined to their homes before the demolition was carried out early in the morning.“This is truly shameful,” Hasan said, adding that the matter would be taken to court. She accused the government of adopting “quick justice” as a standard approach and said such action undermined the legal system.AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also attacked the demolition, claiming that the mosque had been in use since 1911 and that records had been produced to establish its long existence.“How could you demolish a mosque that has been active since 1911?” Owaisi asked, arguing that more than a century of continuous use raised questions of “Waqf by user” and adverse possession.He accused the Uttar Pradesh Government of undermining constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and due process, and questioned why the authorities had not allowed the mosque committee more time to pursue legal remedies. “Does the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion no longer apply to Muslims?” Owaisi asked.Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP president Mayawati also criticised the demolition process, saying the government should immediately halt what she described as a campaign to declare mosques illegal and demolish them in haste.She said a constitutional and secular government was duty-bound to respect places of worship of all communities and ensure their safety.Mayawati also urged the judiciary and the government to pay attention to such cases and called for disputes to be resolved in accordance with law, while appealing to people to maintain communal harmony.Meanwhile, the administration has maintained that the demolition was carried out pursuant to judicial orders and the concerned government land. Heavy police deployment remained in place to prevent any untoward incident.