Narayanganj mosque, site of fatal AC blasts, was ‘built on own land’

The Baitus Salat Jame Masjid in Narayanganj's Fatullah has been in the spotlight over the last 10 days after multiple air-conditioner explosions during a prayer congregation claimed the lives of 31 worshippers.

As the dust started to settle, some startling revelations came from the inquiries into deadly blasts, presumably sparked by a gas leak from an abandoned, ruptured pipeline running underneath the mosque.

Now, questions are being raised about the ownership of the land on which the mosque was erected and whether it had been built with the approval of the relevant authorities.

But the mosque committee has vehemently denied allegations that the structure had been built on Hindu-owned land or that it encroached on the adjacent street.

Instead, they claim the land was donated to them by four members of a family while the mosque was built in line with all relevant construction rules and regulations.

Established in 1960 in a tin-roofed room in Paschim Talla, the Baitul Salat mosque was redeveloped into a two-storey concrete building around 1991.

Members of a local family, Hossain Sardar, Shamsuddin Sardar, Aftabuddin Sardar, Siddik Sardar and his wife, donated the 8-decimal land for the construction of a mosque.

The mosque initially sprawled across 6-decimal land, while the remainder was left for the construction of a street on the northern side of the property. Later, an additional 1.5-decimal plot was purchased to facilitate expansion plans. The mosque now sits on 7-decimal land, according to its authorities.

At least 40 Muslim worshippers were burnt in what the authorities said were explosions of air-conditioners at Baitus Salat Jame Masjid in Narayanganj’s Fatullah on Sep 4, 2020.

Shamsuddin Sardar, one of the owners of the plot, confirmed that the land did indeed belong to his family for generations. They had donated their ancestral property for the construction of a mosque, he told bdnews24.com.

"I inherited my father's property which was passed down to him by my grandfather and great grandfather. We are named as the owners of this piece of land in all registries including CS, SA and RS."

"I don't know from whom my great grandfather bought this land but back in those times, Muslims also used 'Shree' in front of their names. That's why some people think that it was owned by a Hindu, which is not correct."

The mosque now stretches across 7.5-decimal land which it now owns, said Abdul Gafur, president of the mosque committee. It was constructed in accordance with all the rules and regulations, he added.

"We have all the papers relating to the Wakf or donation for the mosque. The committee still has the planning designs of the mosque."

The mosque never acquired any land meant for public use but rather donated it's own land to construct roads, according to Gafur.

"On the north side of the mosque, 2-decimal land was left for the construction of a road. The building doesn't occupy space for a road on the east side either. One can measure it and see. Now, this is totally wrong if someone says that the mosque was built on a public street."

The Baitus Salat mosque does not fall under the jurisdiction of Narayanganj City Corporation, but under the Fatullah Union Parishad.

The area is now covered by the Detailed Area Plan or DAP initiated in 2010, according to RAJUK officials. Permission from RAJUK is mandatory in order to build any structure in DAP areas. But as the mosque was built in the 1990s, the law is not applicable to it, they said.

Law enforcers ask onlookers to go away through loudspeakers on Sept 5, 2020, after air-conditioner blasts at Baitul Salat mosque in Narayanganj’s Fatullah killed 21 worshippers.

"The mosque was built at a time when RAJUK's approval wasn’t mandatory," said an official of RAJUK, asking to remain unnamed.

No permission from RAJUK is needed to build a structure within a union parishad, according to Nurul Huda, former chairman of RAJUK.

But Md Shamsuddin Sardar, vice president of the mosque governing committee, said he did not know if the mosque was constructed with the permission of the union parishad.

“As far as I know, no such permission was needed at the time. Those who were the members of the mosque's governing body back then may know about it. We’re the new committee,” he told bdnews24.com.

At present, permission from the union parishad is needed to build a structure in their jurisdiction, said a union parishad chairman, asking not to be named. He, however, is unaware of whether the rule was the same 25-30 years ago.