Akhilesh seeks murder case against officials in Sambhal violence; Rahul for SC intervention
In a statement, Akhilesh Yadav said: “Along with the petitioner, the administration and the government are responsible for the Sambhal incident.”
Several opposition MPs from Uttar Pradesh on Monday hit out at the state government and the ruling BJP over the violence in Sambhal, alleging it was planned to polarise people on communal lines.
The Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav, SP’s Azamgarh MP Dharmendra Yadav, Congress’s Saharanpur MP, and Azad Samaj Party (ASP) MP Chandra Shekhar Azad have attacked the government. They indicated that they will raise the issue in Parliament’s Winter Session which began on Monday.
SP CHIEF BLAMES PETITIONER, ADMIN, GOVT
In a statement, Akhilesh Yadav said: “Along with the petitioner, the administration and the government are responsible for the Sambhal incident. The officers responsible for the incident should be suspended. A murder case should be filed against them so that no one can carry out such anti-constitutional work in the future.”
He added: “The police have fired from government and private weapons. The Samajwadi Party wanted to raise this issue in the Lok Sabha today but was not given a chance, when we get a chance, we will raise it in the House.” Akhilesh also said that a delegation of the Samajwadi Party will go to Sambhal and meet the victims’ kin.
He further said, “A petition was filed in (the court of) civil judge, Chandausi, on 19.11.2024 regarding the Shahi Jama Masjid of Sambhal. The court ordered a survey without hearing the other side. After receiving the order, the district magistrate and superintendent of police of Sambhal reached Jama Masjid with the police for the survey within two hours without reading the order. The committee of Jama Masjid, Ulema Ikram, all the parties cooperated. When the survey was conducted for the first time on the orders of the court, everyone cooperated fully. After two and a half hours of survey, the district magistrate said that the survey is complete. Now, the survey report will be submitted to the court,” stated Akhilesh. Yadav
“But on the night of November 23, the police administration said that there will be a survey again on the morning of 24th. When the survey was done once, then who ordered the survey again? The lawyer of Shahi Jama Masjid also said that when the survey was done once, then on whose orders will the survey be done again?” Yadav said.
GOVT’S HASTY ATTITUDE UNFORTUNATE: RAHUL
A day after violence rocked Sambhal, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a post on X in Hindi said: “The biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the recent dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, is extremely unfortunate. I express my deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the violence and firing. The administration, without listening to all the parties, insensitively took action that vitiated the atmosphere further and led to the deaths of people -- for which the BJP government is directly responsible,” he charged.
“The BJP’s use of power to create a rift and discrimination between Hindu-Muslim communities is neither in the interest of the state nor the country. I request the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter as soon as possible and do justice,” Gandhi said.
A PRE-PLANNED INCIDENT: SP MP
Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal Ziaur Rahman Barq said the incident was “pre-planned” and members of the Muslim community were being targeted. He on Sunday had said that he as the MP of Sambhal would raise the issue in Parliament.
UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT: DHARMENDRA YADAV
Samajwadi Party’s Azamgarh MP Dharmendra Yadav said the incident was unfortunate and the party would raise it in both Houses of Parliament. “We have given notices for adjournment. We will raise the issue (in the Houses),” the SP Lok Sabha member told reporters outside Parliament.
State-sponsored violence: Imran Masood
The Congress’ Saharanpur MP Imran Masood said: “The violence was state-sponsored as police were also involved.”
JUSTICE BEING DONE THROUGH BULLETS IN UP: AZAD
On reaching Delhi to attend the session of the Parliament, Chandrashekhar Aazad, Azad Samaj Party chief and Nagina MP told reporters outside the Parliament: “Justice is being done through bullets in UP, this hooliganism can’t be tolerated. Attempts are being made to vitiate the atmosphere sometimes through Kashi sometimes through Sambhal.”
CPI LEADER BLAMES ADMIN
Girish, the national secretary of Communist Party of India, said that after using divisive politics to win the assembly elections and then the recently held bypolls, the BJP and its chief minister have orchestrated the Sambhal incident to further deepen the communal divide in which four persons were killed and many injured. The administration, which is a mere tool in the hands of the chief minister, is completely responsible for the incident. He said: “It’s a point to ponder as to who are those handful of people who create trouble by calling mosques ancient temples and then knock on the doors of the judiciary? If they are not patronised by the government, then why cases are not filed against them for fomenting communal trouble?”