‘Orchestrated by government’: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sambhal violence | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday alleged that the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district over the survey of a mosque was instigated by the state government to divert attention from electoral malpractice.
“From all the videos we have, we know it was a riot orchestrated by the government. The government was looting votes. They did riot in Sambhal because they did not want to get caught,” Akhilesh said while talking to reporters.
“Some people say that after watching ‘The Sabarmati Report’ movie, some BJP leaders thought that they also want to become a big leader and have gotten this done (in Sambhal),” he said referring to the movie based on the Godhra incident.
On Police lodging FIR against Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood’s son Sohail Iqbal as accused, the SP chief claimed, “Our MP Zia ur Rahman was not even in Sambhal during the incident, and despite that, an FIR was lodged against him.”

Yadav further criticized the actions of administration, saying, “Right after the order was passed by the Court on November 19, 2024, the police and the administration reached Jama Masjid, and all people cooperated with them. On November 23, the police administration said that a second survey would be conducted the next morning. My question is, who gave the order to the police administration to conduct the second survey?”
Akhilesh further said, “The people still kept patience, but when they wanted to know the reason for the second survey, the Circle Officer started abusing them and did a lathi charge. People also started protesting and pelted stones, in return, the police fired bullets.”
Yadav also called for strict action against the people who he thinks are responsible for the incident, saying, “The people who filed the petition and the police officers and administration responsible for this should be suspended for spoiling the atmosphere of Sambhal. A murder case should also be filed against them so that the people who were innocent can get justice, and in the future, no one can commit any such illegal incidents against the Constitution.”
The clashes on Sunday between protesters opposing the survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid and the police left three people dead and several others, including security personnel and officials, injured. A fourth injured person succumbed to their injuries on Monday.
Tension in the area has been rising since November 19, when the Jama Masjid was first surveyed on court orders following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple once stood at the site.
District officials said that the survey could not be completed on Tuesday and was scheduled for Sunday to avoid disrupting afternoon prayers.
The stone pelting occurred in Sambhal on Sunday when an ASI team arrived at the local Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a fresh survey of the mosque, following court orders. The survey was part of a legal process following a petition filed by senior advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who claimed the mosque was originally a temple.
The survey, conducted in the presence of police, was reportedly peaceful until a crowd gathered and began throwing stones at the survey team and security personnel.