Tension Persists in Indian City Following Deadly Weekend Clashes

The city of Sambhal in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh continues to experience tension, two days after fatal violence resulted in four deaths and numerous injuries. The unrest began on Sunday during a court-mandated inspection of the ancient Shahi Jama Masjid (mosque), which certain Hindu organizations assert was constructed on the remnants of a demolished temple. According to police, protesters, predominantly Muslims, threw stones at officers, who then deployed teargas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the gatherings. Police reported 20 officers sustained injuries. However, relatives of the four Muslim men who died on Sunday contend they were fatally shot by police, an accusation the police have refuted. While officials state the situation is currently stable, a substantial presence of police and paramilitary forces remains stationed near the mosque and throughout the city. The streets are notably quiet, marked by scattered stones and ash stains from vehicles that were torched. Local authorities have prohibited the entry of non-residents, social activists, and politicians into the city until December 1. Internet access has been cut off, and schools have been closed. Seven cases related to the violence have been filed by police, and a minimum of 25 individuals have been taken into custody. On Monday, BBC Hindi spoke with the bereaved families of those who died in the clashes. In the Tabela Kot area, Idro Ghazi is still mourning her 34-year-old son, Naeem Ghazi, who was among the fatalities. She stated that her son was not involved in the protest and had gone to the market to buy oil. She alleged he was encircled and shot close to the mosque. Despite her sorrow, the distraught mother has opted against filing a complaint against the police. “We do not have the courage to fight the police and the government,” she stated, her voice laden with grief. Approximately two kilometers distant, in the Baghicha Sarayatrin colony, a quiet gathering had formed outside a mosque. Nafees, whose 22-year-old son Bilal died in the violence, sat with his head bowed on the steps. He recounted that his son had been on his way to purchase clothes when he was killed. “The police shot him in the chest,” he claimed. These accusations have been rejected by the police. Senior police official Muniraj G informed BBC Hindi that law enforcement personnel did not discharge firearms into the crowd during the unrest. Sambhal police have initiated legal proceedings against over 2,700 individuals, among them local Member of Parliament Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, a representative of the regional opposition Samajwadi Party. He is accused of inciting the protesters. Barq vehemently refuted any participation, stating he was in Bengaluru for a meeting when the violence occurred. He presented his flight tickets to the BBC Hindi team as proof. Opposition political groups within the state have condemned the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for allegedly attempting to divide the populace along religious lines. Tauqeer Ahmed, a politician from India’s primary opposition Congress party, observed that residents were too fearful to even discuss the circumstances of the four men’s deaths. Akhilesh Yadav, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and leader of Barq’s party, accused state officials of “orchestrating the riot”—an allegation they deny. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Yadav also raised concerns about the necessity of conducting the mosque survey with such haste. The dispute concerning the Shahi Jama Masjid represents the most recent in a succession of controversies involving mosques throughout India, where Hindu organizations have asserted that Muslim rulers demolished temples to construct over their sites. City tensions initially escalated on November 19, when a local court mandated a survey of the mosque site following a petition alleging that the 16th-century mosque was erected upon the remnants of a Hindu temple. Uttar Pradesh authorities commenced the survey within hours of the court’s directive. The survey conducted on Sunday, occurring five days subsequent to the initial one, became violent as a substantial gathering of protesters assembled near the mosque and started chanting slogans directed at the survey team.