Construction of a new mosque is impossible at the site of the 300-year-old Hinga Bibi Mosque without destroying the Mughal-era monument in the old part of the capital, said an environmentalist group.
Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) made the observation yesterday after an investigation team visited the heritage site at KB Ghosh Street in Old Dhaka.
The team said the mosque committee began constructing a new multi-storey building at the site a week ago by destroying the ornamental architecture of the Hinga Bibi Mosque, also called Mawlana Mosque.
Led by Shamsul Wares, the team included architect Sajjadur Rashid, Poba chairman Abu Naser, and convener Atiq Morshed.
According to local residents, a woman named Hinga Bibi built the mosque 300 years ago and dedicated it as a waqf (donated) property. Lack of maintenance and repairs have made the ancient building vulnerable.
Reasoning that the building was derelict, the mosque committee has started constructing a new structure by pulling down the old part.
The committee began demolishing the old building after reportedly getting permission from the government’s waqf administrator, although the Department of Archeology had requested it to stop.
Meanwhile, the local people alleged that 21 shops and a three-storey house have already sprung up on the mosque land.
They suggested that the committee could remove the shops and the house and construct a new mosque in their place, instead of demolishing the heritage building.
In news published on Friday, a Dhaka Tribune correspondent found workers demolishing the roof of the mosque, with only the walls remaining. However, the workers stopped working as soon as they saw the reporter.