The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, held what it called 'jihadist elements' responsible for instigating stone pelting during the partial removal of the Shahi Masjid in Ujjain, a day after the demolition of a portion of the mosque. Simultaneously, Muslim organisations and Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders staged a protest against the demolition at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, escalating a controversy that has drawn sharp reactions from across the political and religious spectrum.

VHP's Position: Road Widening, Not Targeting

VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said the demolition was part of a broader road-widening and beautification drive ahead of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela scheduled in Ujjain. 'Ujjain is a religious city. The Simhastha Kumbh Mela will be held there. For this, the government and the local administration have prepared a plan for road widening and beautification. As part of that, authorities have so far removed 80 religious sites in the area. Most of them belong to Hindus,' Bansal said.

He added that only 10 per cent of the mosque was to be removed, and that the city Qazi had reportedly raised no objection. Bansal alleged that 'extremist-minded jihadist elements provoked and misled people and created a stone-pelting scene, similar to what used to happen in the Kashmir Valley.' He further stated that over 200 Hindu homes and shops had already been relocated for the same project without protest, and questioned why 'rowdy elements' appeared to belong to only one community.

Muslim Leaders Condemn the Demolition

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) spokesperson Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, who attended the Jantar Mantar protest, challenged the legal basis for labelling the mosque an illegal structure. 'A 600-year-old mosque has been called an illegal construction? How did it suddenly become illegal construction? Your government was not in power when it was constructed. So, on what basis is it being called illegal?' he said.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Vice President Professor Mohammad Salim Engineer argued that religious sites of all faiths — temples, mosques, churches, and gurdwaras — are an integral part of the nation and that the government is constitutionally responsible for protecting them, not demolishing them through municipal bodies.

SP MP Detained at Protest Site

Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament Ziaur Rahman Barq was detained from the protest site. Before being taken away, he said: 'It is unfortunate that mosques and madrasas are being targeted across the country today. Even protests and demonstrations are not being allowed to be held peacefully in this free country... We will fight this battle until the very end, whether we have to fight it on the streets, in Parliament, or in court.' He described the demolition as 'part of a well-planned conspiracy.'

Context: Kumbh Mela Preparations and the 80-Site Removal Drive

The Ujjain administration's infrastructure push ahead of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela has involved the removal of 80 religious structures, the majority of which reportedly belong to the Hindu community. The VHP has used this as evidence that the drive is non-discriminatory. Critics, however, argue that the demolition of a mosque with a claimed history of 600 years raises questions about proportionality and due process that a routine road-widening project does not adequately answer. Notably, incidents of stone pelting during the demolition drew comparisons — from the VHP — to unrest in the Kashmir Valley, a framing that Muslim leaders have firmly rejected as inflammatory.

What Happens Next

The controversy is likely to reach the courts, with SP MP Barq explicitly flagging a legal fight. The AIMPLB's intervention signals that the issue may be taken up as a test case for the protection of religious sites under ongoing demolition drives across several states. The political fallout — particularly in the run-up to future state elections in Madhya Pradesh and at the national level — will be closely watched by both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition.