Overview
- District authorities completed a verification drive and sealed all 15 mosque sites identified as operating without required registration, land papers or building approvals, officials said on Thursday.
- The action followed representations from the Arunachal Pradesh Indigenous Youth Organisation and earlier notices first served after a January 13 memorandum that asked mosque functionaries to produce documents by January 30 and again on May 28.
- A 24-hour bandh called by APIYO on Friday disrupted life in the Itanagar Capital Region with shops and schools closed, and the protest exposed internal divisions within APIYO over whether to continue the shutdown.
- The state government says it followed due legal process by issuing notices and conducting sealings in the presence of police, and it has proposed a dedicated Inner Line Permit department plus four high-powered committees to review APST re-verification, non-APST offspring, ILP strengthening and illegal immigration.
- An Arunachal Muslim welfare committee has urged authorities to reopen the sealed mosques and to apply the same document checks to all faiths, a demand that highlights risks of perceived selective enforcement and could shape how officials proceed next.