Existing mosque on the edge of highway being widened

BATHINDA: A Sikh family has donated 16 marlas (484 sq yards) of land for the building of a mosque in Machhike village, in Punjab’s Moga district , near the Barnala-Moga highway.

The village already has a nearly 200-year-old mosque situated right on the edge of the highway, but it is on the verge of being demolished for a highway widening project. The cost of the donated land is estimated at over Rs 8 lakh, with one marla fetching over Rs 50,000 in the village.

Over a year ago, when the highway widening project was launched, Muslim families in Machhike village, under the banner of the Muslim Welfare Society, tried to urge the authorities to spare the mosque at the edge of the highway.

However, after structures adjacent to the mosque or those situated almost on the edge of the highway started being demolished, they began to look for an alternative spot for a mosque and even approached the village panchayat, but with no success.

We were worried for our place of worship. With only 14-15 Muslim families in the village, which has a population of over 7,000, we did not have the resources to purchase land and at the same time did not want to lose the only place of paying obeisance. It is at this point that the family of Darshan Singh came as angels and donated the land to construct a mosque and a dharamsala.” Muslim Welfare Society president Roop Mohammadsaid.

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