HYDERABAD - The Andhra Pradesh government has given alternate land for a mosque demolished during the construction of the international airport at Shamshabad on the city outskirts and also promised to bear the expenses of building it. However, a Muslim political party has rejected the gesture and called for rebuilding the mosque at its original site.

The District Collector of Ranga Reddy, Dana Kishore has issued orders allotting 1,000 square yards land at Shamshabad, which is about seven kilometres away from the airport. The move was to fulfil the promise by the Congress government that it would rebuild the mosque.

Masjid-e-Omer Farooq was demolished in 2007 during the construction of the airport by GMR Group. The mosque, built in 1982, was located on about 500 sq yards, a part of 5,500 acres area acquired by the government for building the airport.

GMR, however, clarified that it had nothing to do with demolition of the mosque. “The land which the government handed over to GMR for developing the airport was free of any structure,” a company spokesman told IANS.

Following strong protests from the Muslim community, the government had assured to rebuild the mosque at its own cost.

Local Muslims wanted the mosque to be rebuilt in the airport area but the airport authorities rejected the demand saying no place of worship could be allowed on airport land.

The latest move by the government has evoked strong protest from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), a powerful Muslim political party in the state capital. MIM leader in state assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi termed allotment of land for the mosque away from the airport as rubbing salt into wounds.

Owaisi demanded that the demolished mosque be rebuilt at its original site. He said Muslims would never accept land for the mosque at any other place. He fears that this could also set a precedent for the authorities to demolish mosques or other places of worship and provide alternate lands at other places.