Hyderabad, Sept. 29 -- Hundreds of Muslims have gathered in Ujjain to protest the partial demolition of a mosque they say is more than 600 years old. The BJP-led state government says the action is necessary to widen roads ahead of the 2028 Hindu pilgrimage of Simhastha. Critics say the state is willing to erase a 650-year-old historic monument to please a section of Hindus and advance its own politics, even though the mosque trust has already given up 9 feet of land for the same project.

The protest follows a Madhya Pradesh High Court order this month dismissing petitions against municipal notices to remove part of the mosque, filed by groups administering the waqf property, Shahi Masjid Waqf Panchayat Mochiyaan. The Muslim side is now ...