‘Ayodhya happened, now Sambhal’s turn’: How a court order sparked a deadly mosque-temple dispute
Locals allege that four persons died in police firing. But the police have claimed that shots were fired by a mob protesting the survey.
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Since Sunday, Sambhal in western Uttar Pradesh has been on the edge. That morning, protestors clashed with the police accompanying officials conducting a survey of the town’s Shahi Jama Masjid. It had been ordered by the court to verify claims made in a petition that the mosque had been built five centuries ago on the site of a demolished temple.
At least four Muslim men – Naeem Ghazi, Mohammad Ayan, Bilal and Kaif – died of gunshot wounds during the violence on November 24. But there are two starkly differing versions on who was responsible for the deaths, reflecting the sharp divide between the administration and Sambhal’s Muslims.
Anger at the police
Families of the dead men and local community members alleged that the police had opened fire at people gathered to protest against the survey.
Lawyer Zafar Ali, the chairman of the mosque management committee, said that the protestors became anxious when a water tank inside the mosque was emptied out as the sub-divisional magistrate insisted that it should also be inspected. “As water flowed out on the road leading to the mosque, the protestors thought that the mosque was being excavated,” Ali told Scroll.
Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh told journalists that...
