Tear Gas Used at Ujjain Mosque Protest Over Planned Road Work

Police used tear gas to disperse a crowd during protests Monday near Ujjain’s Shahi Masjid, where stone-pelting was reported amid preparations for a planned partial removal of the mosque to widen a road. Accounts agree on the tense confrontation, but differ on whether municipal crews had begun removing any part of the structure; that remained unclear in reports available Monday. The dispute involves a Ujjain Municipal Corporation project to widen a route ahead of the Simhastha gathering in 2028. The planned road is to be 15 metres wide. Reports gave different measurements and endpoints for the affected stretch, citing lengths of 730 metres or about 900 metres, so its precise extent was not established. The project is also expected to affect other structures along the route. Members of the Muslim community gathered near the mosque to oppose the proposed work. Police and Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed, and barricades restricted movement in the area. Reports described stone-pelting during the confrontation and police firing tear-gas shells to disperse the crowd.