Violence Over UP Mosque Spontaneous Or Planned? Questions Before Probe Team

Lucknow:

As Sambhal simmers in the aftermath of violence linked to the survey of a Mughal-era mosque, a three-member judicial panel visited the violence-hit areas as part of their investigation into the incident.

The three-member panel set up by the Yogi Adityanath government to probe the November 24 violence is headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Devendra Kumar Arora. Retired IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad and retired IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain are the other members of the panel. The panel will submit its report within two months.

The commission, it is learnt, will look at four key points as part of its investigation: was the violence spontaneous or the result of a criminal conspiracy? what were the arrangements made by the police administration? what were the circumstances leading to the violence and what preparations must be made to prevent a repeat of such incidents?

Members of the commission may record statements of top police and administrative officials involved in controlling the situation after the clashes erupted.

Four persons were killed and many more injured in clashes in Sambhal during a court-ordered survey of Shahi Jama Masjid. The mosque is at the centre of a legal battle after some petitions claimed it was built on the site of a Hindu temple. It was in this connection that a local court ordered its survey. The local residents opposed the survey and the situation snowballed into full-blown violence.

In its FIR, Sambhal Police have named local Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman, local Samajwadi Party MLA Iqbal Mahmood’s son Sohail Iqbal and about 700-800 unidentified persons. Mr Rehman has blamed local police for the violence. “A murder case should be registered against them (police personnel) and action should be taken because they fired from private arms and not government arms. Muslims were targeted and killed as part of a conspiracy,” he has said.

Political Blame Game Intensifies

The political blame game surrounding the Sambhal violence has intensified after a delegation of Samajwadi Party, the main Opposition in Uttar Pradesh, was stopped from visiting Sambhal. Party chief and MP Akhilesh Yadav yesterday accused the state government and the administration of engineering the violence. “A Samajwadi Party delegation was on its way to Sambhal. We all support peace and justice. The administration’s statements are made at the government’s behest,” he said.

“When the survey was conducted on the first day, everyone cooperated. Why did the administration conduct another survey? And why were BJP workers accompanying the survey team? The government and the administration are complicit in this injustice. BJP does not want peace,” Mr Yadav alleged.

Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh has said no one would be allowed to visit Sambhal until the situation stabilised.

Hitting back at Mr Yadav, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the Sambhal clashes were the fallout of a “power struggle” between the local Samajwadi MP and MLA. “The SP tried to push Sambhal into communal unrest. This attempt was made because the SP suffered a crushing defeat in the recent bypolls and even its Muslim vote bank has started shifting away from it. The delegation being sent by Akhilesh Yadav does not reflect any genuine sympathy for Muslims. It is a failed attempt to reclaim the lost vote bank,” Mr Maurya told PTI.