All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday, 21 June demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah immediately halt what he described as a wave of demolitions targeting Muslim religious sites across Rajasthan's border districts. Owaisi, who is also the Hyderabad Member of Parliament, termed the alleged demolitions 'targeted' and 'illegal'.

Scale of Alleged Demolitions

Owaisi, posting on social media platform X, said he had spoken to AIMIM Bikaner District President Shafi Jameel Qasmi, who informed him that four mosques in Bikaner and nine mosques and dargahs across Phalodi, Jaisalmer, and Barmer had already been brought down. Notices have reportedly been issued to hundreds of additional religious sites in the region.

Among the structures facing action, according to Owaisi, is an approximately 250-year-old dargah of Hazrat Mahmood Shah Jilani, located on the Ramgarh–Tanot Bypass Road in Jaisalmer.

Grounds Cited by Authorities

The AIMIM chief alleged that authorities have justified the demolitions on national security grounds. In some cases, structures were said to be built on grazing land; where residents reportedly demonstrated private ownership, the stated reason reportedly shifted to a lack of requisite permissions or approvals. Owaisi argued that none of the people in these areas has ever been linked to any security-related activities.

'These discriminatory and targeted demolitions are illegal and must be stopped immediately,' Owaisi said in his post, directly tagging Home Minister Amit Shah.

Broader Pattern of Concerns

The AIMIM president alleged that only Muslim places of worship are being singled out in these actions, framing the demolitions as discriminatory rather than part of any uniform enforcement drive. This comes amid a broader national debate over the use of demolition orders — sometimes referred to as 'bulldozer action' — and their application to minority communities, a subject that has drawn scrutiny from civil society groups and opposition parties.

Owaisi's Separate Remarks on CBI Appeal

In a separate post on Saturday, Owaisi had also reacted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s decision to appeal the acquittal in the 2006 double murder case of Maharashtra Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver Samad Kazi. He alleged that the government had not permitted the CBI to appeal acquittals in several other high-profile cases involving deaths at religious sites, including the Babri Masjid criminal case, the Mecca Masjid blast, and the Ajmer blast. 'Government will Appeal not for Justice but for political reasons,' Owaisi wrote. The response from the Home Ministry or Rajasthan state authorities to Owaisi's demolition demands had not been issued at the time of reporting.