Omar Rashid 
New Delhi: Three Muslim men were killed as a mob opposing the survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh clashed with the police on November 24. While local Muslims alleged that the three men were killed in police firing, the administration tried to suggest that they were killed in cross-firing between the members of the mob which attacked the police with stones from three sides and fired bullets at them.
A senior government official said that the police only lobbed teargas and used plastic bullets to disperse the protestors and evacuate the survey team from the area after the mob rained stones at them. The three persons who were killed in the “golibari” (firing) incident were identified as Naeem, Noman and Bilal, said Moradabad divisional commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh.
The official said that 15-20 police constables were injured in the stone-pelting, a public relations officer of the Sambhal district police chief was shot in the leg, a deputy collector’s foot was fractured and a police circle officer was hit by a shrapnel. Fifteen persons, including two women, accused of pelting stones at the police from a rooftop, were detained during the violence, said Singh. Three or four cars and a couple of motorbikes parked in the area were also torched by the mob, said the official.
Police retreating amid stone pelting by a mob. Photo: Screengrab from video
The police said they were searching for those who indulged in the stone pelting on the basis of CCTV and drone camera footage and planned to slap the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against them. “They challenged the police and administration in a targeted way and this was not the act of an unruly mob,” said Superintendent of Police Sambhal Krishan Kumar Bishnoi, alleging that the mob wanted to disrupt the survey work in the mosque.
The violence broke out in lanes near the Shahi Jama Masjid when an advocate commissioner appointed by a local court was conducting the survey in the presence of the local administration and police. The court had on November 14 ordered a survey of the mosque after taking cognisance of an application by some Hindu activists who filed a suit claiming that the Islamic religious site, built during the time of Emperor Babur, was originally a prominent Hindu temple dedicated to the prophesied avatar of Vishnu, Kalki.
After conducting an initial hurried survey of the mosque within a few hours of the court’s orders, the survey team reached the mosque for a second round of photography and videography on the morning of November 24.
The survey, which started around 7:30 am, went on peacefully for two hours when a crowd gathered and started raising slogans, said Singh.
A police personnel seen lobbing a tear gas shell towards the mob. Photo: Screengrab from video.
Police alleged that the crowd started pelting stones. The situation grew more intense around 11 am when the survey team started leaving the area after completing the task at the mosque. Irshad Hussain, the uncle of one of the deceased persons Naeem, while speaking to media persons, alleged that the crowd that had gathered at some distance from the mosque turned unruly after the police started pushing them back aggressively. “The police started it,” said Hussain.
SP Bishnoi said the mob from “the Muslim community” fired bullets and pelted stones at the police. Without giving details, he said the “Police took retaliatory action.” The mob also torched a private car belonging to a police officer, he alleged.
The family of Naeem, who ran a sweetmeat shop, alleged that he was killed after being shot in the abdomen by the police. His brother Tasleem and uncle Hussain told journalists that those present on the scene said he was shot by the police on the orders of the local circle officer.
When confronted with these allegations, divisional commissioner Singh told journalists, “Nobody saw anything. If they have any evidence, they will come to us. We will take action on the basis of the evidence.”
The official, however, squared blame on the deceased person for allegedly being part of the mob, even though Naeem’s family claimed he was out to purchase some groceries.
“First of all, they should take responsibility for any untoward incidents if their son or any other person had gone out to pelt stones. What was the compulsion to pelt stones? What calamity had struck? Why did they go out to pelt stones,” asked Singh.
Stone pelting in Sambhal. Photo: Screengrab from video.
The senior IAS officer also seemed to allege that the protestors fired at each other, although there is no videographic evidence of it. Videos shared on social media, including one by Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, did show police firing at the mob, with an officer heard instructing all police personnel to fire at those allegedly pelting stones at them. We however, cannot confirm if these were rubber bullets or real bullets.
The bodies of the three deceased persons have been sent for post mortem.
Singh said the mob attacked the police from three sides – left, right and centre.
“The three groups were face to face. Amid this, bullets were fired. Which group fired at which…how it happened…What they did against each other…There was firing. The police will not shoot their own leg, this is something to think about,” he said.
Singh added that the police used tear gas and plastic bullets against the mob. “Before making allegations, they [family of the deceased] should ask why their children were there to pelt stones. They were not going to perform any religious work, holy act or professional duty,” he said.
The police and administration said the stone pelting and gathering of the mob appeared to be an “instigated” act.
SP Bishnoi said that police had used “light force” to disperse the mob after some people suddenly emerged from the lanes and pelted stones at the police personnel for 10-15 seconds. Orders prohibiting assembly of more than four persons were passed. “Those who instigated them would be identified from CCTV footage and such action will be taken against them that they will remember all their lives,” said Bishnoi.
Shahi Jama Masjid mosque. Photo: X/@syedurahman
Civil judge senior division Aditya Singh on November 24 directed the survey of the mosque on an application filed by eight plaintiffs, led by pro-Hindutva lawyer Hari Shankar Jain and Hindu seer Mahant Rishiraj Giri, as part of a civil suit claiming right for access into the mosque.
The mosque, claimed to have been built on the directions of the first Mughal emperor Babar, is acknowledged as a “historic monument” on the official website of the Sambhal district. The Hindu petitioners, however, claimed that the mosque was the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Kalki, the prophesized final incarnation of Vishnu. In 1529, Babar partly demolished the Hari Hari temple and tried to convert it into a mosque, said Vishnu Shankar Jain, lawyer and the son of the chief plaintiff Hari Shankar Jain.
While accepting the plea of the Hindu plaintiffs to get the mosque surveyed by an advocate commissioner, the court said, “The submission of a report of the site might facilitate the court to adjudicate the suit.” In their suit, the plaintiffs said that the mosque was a monument protected under Section 3 (3) of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. They claimed that they were being “denied access” to the mosque, described by them as “subject property,” as the Archaeological Survey of India had not taken any steps for entry of the general public as mentioned in the provisions of Section 18 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
The plaintiffs claimed that the site was a centuries-old Har Hari Temple dedicated to Kalki and was being “used forcibly and unlawfully” by the Jama Masjid caretaking committee.
SP MP from Sambhal, Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, who has opposed the survey on the grounds that the mosque was protected by The Place of Worship Act, 1991, appealed for peace after the violence. He promised to raise his voice against “police brutality” during the winter session of the parliament.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer representing the Hindu plaintiffs, said the survey work was complete and now the advocate commissioner had to submit his report to the court.