NEW DELHI: At least 3 people were dead and several others, including over 20 police personnel, were injured in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal after violent clashes erupted following a court-mandated survey of the Mughal-era Jama Masjid.
The survey was ordered following a petition filed by senior advocate Vishnu Shanker Jain, claiming that the mosque was originally a temple.
Entering Sambhal without official’s permit restricted
Sambhal district Magistrate issued a notification prohibiting any outsider, social oraganisation or public representative from entering the riot-torn district without the orders of the authorities.
“The order number 942 / Judicial Assistant / Section-163 / 2024 dated 01.10.2024 issued by the undersigned has imposed a prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Indian Citizens Security Code, 2023 in district Sambhal, effective until November 30,” the circular said.
“No external person, other social organizations, or public representatives will be allowed to enter the district of Sambhal without permission from the competent authority. This order will be an integral part of the prohibitory order dated 01.10.2024 and will be enforced immediately. Violation of this order will be a punishable offense under Section 223 of the Indian Penal Code, 2023,” it added.
Internet services suspended; citizens prohibited from buying or collecting stones
As a precaution, internet services across the district have been suspended for a day.
In view of the violence, the district administration issued a notice prohibiting citizens from buying or collecting stones, soda bottles, or any flammable or explosive materials on their roofs. The notice, issued by local SDM, warns that strict action will be taken against anyone found violating this order. Additionally, instructions were given to the Municipal Corporation to confiscate any construction material lying on roads immediately.
Around 20 people have been taken into custody following the alleged stone-pelting and clashes that erupted during a survey of a mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal on Sunday morning, police said.
What led to clashes?
The tension started on Sunday morning as a large group of people gathered near the mosque and started shouting slogans as the survey team began their work in the Shahi Jama Masjid.
The protesters tried to torch vehicles and pelted stones at the police who used tear gas and batons to disperse the mob.
“Gunshots were fired by the miscreants and some pellets struck our policemen. We are investigating where the shots were fired from, particularly in the Deepa Sarai area,” an officer said.
Tension has been brewing in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
“Some miscreants in the crowd threw stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control,” Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.
“We are in the process of registering an FIR in the incident. The accused will also be booked under the NSA,” the police officer added.
Petitioner Vishnu Shankar Jain had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an “Advocate Commission” to survey the mosque. The court has said that a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the mosque committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition concerning the mosque, Jain.
‘Attack on India’s democracy, rule of law’: BJP condemns violent protests
Uttar Pradesh minister Yogendra Upadhyay condemned the stone pelting at an ASI team surveying a Mughal-era mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal and asserted that everyone has to live according to law and order under UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s governance.
“I condemn this action. It is reprehensible to disobey the order given by the court. Failure to follow the court’s order is a big crime… Under Yogi Adityanath’s rule, everyone has to live according to law and order, despite their class or status in society,” Upadhyay said.
Union minister Giriraj Singh reacted to the stone pelting incident on the survey team and said that it was not just an assault on the government but an attack on India’s democracy and rule of law.
Singh criticised the community responsible for the attack, accusing them of showing distrust in the country’s democratic institutions and emphasized that the nation will not tolerate such actions.
“The attack that was carried out by a community in Sambhal and that too on the government machinery, this attack is not on the government machinery but on the democracy and law of India on which they do not trust. Now the country will not tolerate how this attack was carried out,” Singh said,
‘Well-planned conspiracy by UP CM Adityanath, BJP-RSS’
Meanwhile, Congress alleged that the Yogi Adityanath administration is squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS is guilty of “setting fire” to the peace and harmony there.
The opposition party said the videos of direct firing on the protesters in Sambhal depict the horrifying result of a “well-planned conspiracy” by Adityanath and the BJP-RSS.
“In this entire matter, the BJP neither wanted the survey to proceed nor to stop it; its sole objective was to destroy harmony,” Khera said.
“No citizen in Uttar Pradesh is ‘safe’ under CM Adityanath, who gave the reprehensible slogan of ‘Batenge toh Katenge’. This is evident by the highly deplorable incidents of Sambhal today,” he added.
Western Uttar Pradesh, which has been a symbol of goodwill and harmony for years, has today witnessed three people killed and many injured under a “well-planned conspiracy”, the Congress leader said.
“We say with full responsibility that the Adityanath administration is squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS is guilty of setting fire to the peace and harmony of Sambhal. Modi-Yogi ‘double assault’ governments, which consider the minority community as second-class citizens, hurriedly got a petition filed in court,” Khera said.
It is public knowledge that the court ordered an immediate survey without hearing the other side, he said.
“No action was taken against the rioters who accompanied the survey team. This makes it clear that after the by-elections in the state, the Yogi government has further intensified the politics of violence and hatred,” he added.
Khera said Rahul Gandhi has been continuously and stridently talked about ‘Nafrat Ke Bazaar Mein Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’ and in such a situation, an appeal is made to the people of Sambhal to recognise the politics of hatred, maintain mutual unity, amity and harmony, and take steps to protect their rights in a legal manner.
