A century-old heritage mosque situated directly opposite the official residence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing imminent threat of demolition after federal authorities issued an eviction order declaring the premises unauthorised government property, triggering widespread outrage among Muslim organisations and heritage advocates.
The Land and Development Office (L&DO), functioning under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, served a six-day vacation notice on 19 October 2026 to the management of the Race Course Road Mosque – located across from 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi. The directive ordered the immediate clearance of the site, prompting heavily armed security deployments, the locking of the mosque gates, and the barring of worshippers following an earlier cutoff of water and electricity connections on 7 October.
Estimated to be between 100 and 125 years old, the mosque is officially documented in the heritage register of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and has been registered as a gazetted Waqf property since 1977. According to the chief cleric, Imam Maulana Mohammad Haroon, a comprehensive government survey carried out in 2021 cleared the mosque of being an encroachment, even as dozens of surrounding residential structures were marked and cleared at the time.
The abrupt eviction move has reignited debate over the protection of minority religious monuments in India. Muslim leaders and legal representatives argue that the federal action breaches the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which statutory law prohibits altering the religious character of any place of worship as it stood on 15 August 1947.
Prominent Islamic organisations and political figures have mounted sharp resistance against the planned clearance. A delegation from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind met with Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to present an urgent memorandum demanding federal intervention to preserve the mosque and its adjoining cemetery. Concurrently, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi and leadership from Jamaat-e-Islami Hind condemned the utility cuts and urged the central government to halt the demolition, warning that targeting long-standing religious monuments threatens historical preservation and constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.
