AhlulBayt News Agency: The demolition, carried out on Sunday, June 9, was executed under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, according to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) B Shivshanker.
The shrines — Lakkar Shah, Bhawar Shah, Chaman Shah, and Shahn Shah — were reportedly situated on forest land within beat number 20 of the Murtiha Range. Although the managing committee submitted documentation from the Waqf Board dating back to 1986, forest officials claimed there was no legal proof of land rights or ownership.
“The structures were illegal encroachments on forest land, and no central approval was taken for non-forest use,” stated DFO Shivshanker during a press briefing attended by District Magistrate Monika Rani and the Superintendent of Police.
Local Muslim leaders and shrine caretakers, however, called the move arbitrary and unjust. Israr, secretary of the mazar committee, said the Lakkar Shah Baba mazar had hosted annual urs celebrations since the 16th century — a practice that was recently banned by forest authorities. “We are now considering legal recourse through the high court,” he said.
Despite the committee’s earlier petition to halt the action, the high court did not grant relief, and demolition proceeded under tight security. Forest officials, local police, Special Tiger Protection Force, and the Provincial Armed Constabulary were deployed to prevent any unrest.
Media was initially denied access to the demolition site under the pretext of human-wildlife conflict, but District Magistrate Rani later permitted limited supervised coverage.
This incident follows another recent move by the administration to halt the annual fair at the Sayyad Salar Masud Ghazi dargah in Bahraich, citing security concerns. Critics say such decisions are part of a broader pattern of marginalization. “This dargah has stood as a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity for centuries,” said Rais Ahmad, head of the shrine committee. “Now the same forest department that once regulated the fair calls it an encroachment.”
The demolition of religious sites without transparent legal process or community consultation has raised alarm among activists and citizens alike, who see it as part of an unsettling trend of erasing minority religious heritage under administrative pretexts.
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