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Friday prayers peaceful in Sambhal amid heavy cop cover
Friday Namaz at Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal was peaceful amid heavy police presence and surveillance, following recent tensions over a mosque survey.
Friday Namaz passed off peacefully at the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal amid heavy police deployment. Uneasy calm prevailed in the region as intense vigil was put in place using drones and CCTv cameras installed at every crucial point.
A senior police official said the police and district administration were on high alert as it was the first Friday prayers after the advocate commissioner Ramesh Raghav submitted a three-page covering letter along with the 45-page survey report of Shahi Jama Masjid. He said the advocate commissioner carried out a second round of the survey on November 24, sparking protests and violence that claimed four lives.
Moradabad divisional commissioner, Aunenjya Kumar Singh, confirmed that no law-and-order problem was reported from Sambhal, and Friday prayers were conducted peacefully. He said the Sambhal district administration and police officials were already alert and they were asked to deal with troublemakers strictly. He said people have been urged to maintain peace and not to believe in rumours.
Another senior police official said the prayers were conducted peacefully and people were asked not to gather anywhere as prohibitory orders under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), formerly section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code, were in place in the entire district.
Earlier in the morning, Sambhal district magistrate, Rajendra Pensiya and superintendent of police, Krishna Kumar Bishnoi, staged a flag march before the prayers, to ensure all security measures were in place and no untoward incident took place, he added.
On Thursday, Prince Sharma, district government counsel, Sambhal, said that the survey report has 60 pictures taken during the survey, as well as around four hours of videography of the survey in a pen drive. He said the report, however, will not be opened following the Supreme Court’s order on December 12, 2024, which restrained courts across the country from admitting fresh suits or passing orders in pending ones seeking a survey of mosques to determine whether temples lie beneath them.
Earlier, the court of civil judge (senior division) on November 19, 2024, appointed Ramesh Raghav as the advocate commissioner to carry out the survey of the Shahi mosque following a petition by Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain the same day. The petitioner claimed that the Shahi mosque was the Hindu temple- Hari Har Mandir- dedicated to Lord Kalki. Hindu petitioners claimed that a Harihar temple was demolished to build the mosque and wanted worshipping rights at the complex, which was opposed by the Muslim side. The Hindu side maintains that the mosque has two banyan trees and a well. Banyan tree is worshipped by Hindus.
The Shahi mosque is believed to have been constructed around the 16th century by Mir Hindu Beg, a Mughal general, and an important religious and historical site for the Muslim community in the region. It is located in the heart of the city in Mohalla Kot Purvi of Sambhal. The Shahi mosque is a protected monument notified on December 22, 1920, under Section 3, sub-section (3) of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. It figures on the ASI’s website (Moradabad division) in the list of centrally protected monuments.
