Protests in Mandi over illegal construction in mosque, police use water cannons

Police used water cannons on Friday (September 13, 2024) to disperse protestors demanding the demolition of a portion of a mosque built on encroached government land in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi town.

The mosque management committee have been served a notice by the Mandi municipal corporation to remove the encroachment within 30 days. According to the notice, the mosque stands on 232 square metres of land while the approval granted was just for 45 square metres.

Raising slogans of "Jai Shi Ram", the protesters initially held a march in the Mandi market area and sat on a dharna at Seri manch. Later, when they made attempts to proceed towards the mosque, police stopped them and used water cannons to bring the situation under control.