The mystery mosque on ‘KU land’

A mosque has sprung up within two days on a piece of land owned by the University of Karachi (KU).
A group of people has constructed the mosque to restrain the authorities concerned from evicting encroachers, while the KU registrar has written a letter to the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to retrieve the university’s land, it has been learnt.
On January 1, a group of people started building the mosque on a plot at the back of the Husein Ebrahim Jamal (HEJ) department’s nursery, opposite the KU staff gate along the University Road.
To stop the construction work at the mosque, KU State Officer Naeemur Rehman, Chief Engineer Adeel Ahmed Siddiqui, Campus Senior Security Officer and Campus Security Officer Muhammad Asif visited the spot but to no avail.
The next day, the security officials reported the matter to KU high-ups and the KU registrar wrote letters to Gulistan-e-Jauhar SHO, Gulshan-e-Iqbal SP and the DIG East Zone to stop the mosque’s construction.
However, the mosque is almost complete but the LEAs are yet to respond to the letter.
Talking with Pakistan Today, the KU state officer said the land is owned by the varsity. “As per the map of the KU prepared in 1954, the government allocated 1,279 acres of land. Utilising its resources, the varsity constructed a boundary wall but a piece of 7.5 acres could not be covered as it was on the other side of the road, which is now known as the University Road,” he explained.
Rehman said the varsity had stopped construction of buildings whenever some people tried to grab its land.
“In 1997, the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) prepared a map and claiming the land as its property, started allotting plots and many people also bought the university’s land,” he added.
The KU state officer said the university administration has also filed petition against the KDA but the case is yet to be decided.
He claimed that the people who built the mosque also claimed that the land is the property of Hassan Bin Sabit Trust (HBST). “When the group of people involved in construction of mosque were questioned, they had shown us the KDA map and claimed that they bought the land in 1997.”
KU Legal Advisor Muhammad Asif also maintained that the land is the property of the university. “The beginning of this dispute goes back to 1997, when the KDA started plot allotment on the land,” he added.
HEJ’s nursery in-charge Muhammad Salman told Pakistan Today that on December 31, some people were seen giving Azan at the place and also offer prayers later.
“Two days before that, some people had removed vegetation from the plot,” he added. “Within three days, they completed the mosque and the construction work is still going on.”
When approached for comments, Gulistan-e-Jauhar SHO Sohail Ahmed Suleri said the police have received a letter from KU Registrar Kaleem Raza, reporting that some people have forcefully occupied the varsity land from pillar 14 to 15.
He added that when the police approached the encroachers, they showed the police a document, claiming that they had purchased the land from KDA.
Suleri said that the mosque has been named ‘Jamia Masjid Hassan bin Sabit. “The police have written letters to the KDA and the Board of Revenue to know the exact details of who the real owner is,” he added.
“Once the police get the response from both the departments, we will initiate action if needed,” the SHO said.