The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday demolished the decades-old Barkat Ali Shah Baba Dargah amid tight security and heavy deployment of police personnel. The dargah, which was once demolished in 2017 but reconstructed later in the subsequent year, stood just 400 metres away from the Aarey police station.
The development came two months after BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya visited the place and urged the authorities to demolish the structure that was allegedly constructed on the land of the Maharashtra government’s dairy development project.
Right after the demolition, the veteran BJP leader wrote on X, “Land JIHAD…… illegal DARGAH of Aarey Colony Mumbai Demolished today. I had visited & filed a complaint on 9 April 2026.”
On Tuesday morning, an array of bulldozers and cranes arrived on the land to start the demolition drive. The area was cordoned off by a heavy deployment of police forces to prevent any unpleasant situation from arising. Keeping the stone-pelting incident of Bandra Garib Nagar in mind, where the people allegedly threw stones at the officials when a demolition driver headed to raze down a religious structure, the people started throwing stones. Personnel from both Mumbai Police and riot-control forces were present at the spot.
However, the drive remained peaceful, and no one tried to create a ruckus.
The demolition became inevitable as the dargah authorities failed to prove the legality of the structure. The municipality earlier issued a notice to the dargah authority to prove its legality within the due course of time; however, they failed to cite any legal documents, and as a result, the demolition drive took place.
Last week, the BMC also demolished a temple that was illegally constructed in Mumbai’s Dindoshi area. Ahead of the monsoon, BMC runs its anti-encroachment drive as a routine practise to remove unauthorised structures.
– Ends
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