Meerut Mosque Row Escalates as Hindu Leader Faces FIR.

Hindutva Groups Attempt Religious Ritual at Meerut Mosque; Leader Booked for Allegedly Creating Communal Tension.

Sanatan Trivedi | HENB | Meerut | Oct 2, 2026:: Members of a Hindutva group attempted to march toward a mosque in northern India to perform a Hindu religious ritual at the Muslim place of worship, in the latest confrontation involving Hindu groups asserting religious claims around mosques.

According to the Times of India, tensions began after a local dispute over construction and expansion work on the first floor of the historic mosque. Local traders questioned permissions, leading the mosque committee to halt work.

Members of the Hindu Raksha Dal headed toward the Kaiserganj mosque in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday, with plans to recite the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn, at the site. Police intercepted the group before it could reach the mosque amid concerns over possible communal tension.

The mobilisation followed a dispute over construction work at the centuries-old mosque, which Hindu Raksha Dal leaders cited while announcing plans for the religious gathering. Mosque representatives approached the authorities after videos publicising the proposed action circulated on social media.

Lalit Sharma, the Hindu Raksha Dal’s Uttarakhand state president, was among those involved in the mobilisation, while the organisation’s national president, Pinky Chaudhary, had publicly announced the programme.

Police deployed additional personnel around the mosque and stopped dozens of activists as they attempted to approach the site. The group members were later allowed to leave following discussions with police officials.

After being stopped, members of the group were filmed raising slogans declaring, “This country belongs neither to the mullah nor the qazi, but to the brave Shivaji,” invoking Muslim religious titles while expressing a Hindu nationalist view of India.

The attempted action drew criticism because the group was not merely seeking to conduct Hindu worship in a public space, but had planned to bring a Hindu religious ritual to a functioning Muslim place of worship.

The incident also renewed allegations of unequal policing of religious activities in Uttar Pradesh. Social media users contrasted the handling of the Hindu group with cases in which Muslims have faced police action over offering namaz on private premises in districts including Moradabad and Bareilly.

The Meerut episode comes amid broader concerns expressed by Muslims over Hindu groups using religious rituals, processions and claims involving mosques as instruments of Hindutva mobilisation around Muslim religious spaces.

In several disputes across India, Muslim places of worship have become the focus of campaigns seeking Hindu religious access or asserting that mosques stand on sites allegedly connected to Hindu temples or deities.

Such campaigns have heightened concerns among Muslims about the security of mosques and their ability to worship without organised interference.

FIR Against Sachin Sirohi

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Sachin Sirohi, president of the All India Hindu Suraksha Sangathan, for allegedly creating communal tension over construction work at a centuries-old mosque in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

The FIR was lodged at the Civil Lines Police Station on Thursday, when Hindu Raksha Dal leaders were attempting to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside the mosque located in the Kaiserganj area. Sirohi, who allegedly initiated the dispute over the mosque, was booked under Section 196(1)(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to promoting enmity between groups, and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.

The FIR does not specifically refer to the construction dispute but cites inflammatory speeches allegedly made by Sirohi in a video circulated on social media.

“In the said video, inflammatory statements/speeches related to the Hindu-Muslim community have been given. From the video, there is a possibility of creating feelings of enmity, hatred, or tension between both communities, and affecting public peace and law and order. It cannot be denied that due to the rapid spread of the video on social media, there is a possibility of controversy or communal tension arising at the local level. The person spreading the video, Sachin Sirohi, has committed an offence under Section 196(1)(a) BNS and 66D IT Act,” the FIR stated.

Speaking to The Hindustan Gazette, advocate Faheem Raja, who was among the complainants in the case, said they had also named Hindu Raksha Dal leader Pinky Chaudhry in their complaint, but that he was not booked by the police.

According to Raja, Sirohi was booked over a video in which he allegedly targeted mosques and called for their demolition. Raja further alleged that Sirohi had objected to the arrival of an imam in the district and referred to him as “Bangladeshi”.

“He is a controversial man and often targets mosques in the area where Muslims are in the minority. He targets a small [mosque] located in any market. We had forced the authorities to jail him once for destroying the wall of a mosque’s toilet in Cant area. After that, he started targeting the Kaiserganj mosque,” Raja said.

According to Raja, Muslims had been planning to construct an additional floor on the mosque because the existing building was small and became overcrowded during Friday prayers. However, he alleged that Sirohi created a dispute over the proposed construction.

Following the dispute, the mosque committee decided to halt the construction work. Despite the decision to stop the work, Raja alleged that Sirohi continued to target the mosque. During the dispute, the imam and his son were also detained by police.

There were also reports that the mosque’s imam had been beaten. Raja denied that the imam was beaten but said that he had been pushed around.

“Around 10–12 cases were filed against him so far. Now, we plan to ask the police to take action against him under the Gangsters Act and extern him. Such people should not be allowed to roam freely… He should be booked under the NSA. Keeping him free is dangerous for society and the country,” Raja said.

A delegation of the Azad Samaj Party (ASP) also met the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and submitted a complaint against Sirohi, alleging that he was attempting to disturb communal harmony by raising the issue of the mosque.

Sirohi Alleges Police Action Was Politically Motivated

Meanwhile, Sirohi alleged that the Meerut Police registered the case against him to appease the Muslim community.

“Under pressure from the Muslim community and to please them, the Meerut Police registered another false case against me yesterday evening through the Civil Lines Police. Yesterday, despite there being no event, the police confined me to my house,” Sirohi said.
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_Agency Inputs.