Sambhal Violence Was Planned Plot to Block Mosque Survey, Panel Says

Indian Opinion DeskGovernance1 hour ago2 Views

Sambhal violence a calculated plot to obstruct mosque survey: Panel report

The Story in Brief

A Uttar Pradesh judicial inquiry commission has called the November 24, 2024 Sambhal violence a “calculated criminal conspiracy” to obstruct a court-ordered survey of the disputed Jama Masjid-Hari Har Mandir site. The report, tabled in the state assembly on Wednesday, said the court order triggered events but prior planning and mobilisation led to the violence. Four civilians died, while police personnel and others were injured. The three-member panel said protesters threw stones, opened fire and set vehicles ablaze after the survey began. It examined police preparations, weapons, medical records, forensic evidence, witness statements and related criminal cases.

The report said the commission was not deciding the site’s religious status. Supreme Court proceedings in the lower court remain stayed while broader issues under the Places of Worship Act, 1991, are considered. Sambhal MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq rejected the findings as wrong and accused the state government of using them to polarise voters before next year’s assembly elections.

The Indian Opinion

The loudest claims will cast this either as proof of a communal conspiracy or as a politically manufactured report. Neither conclusion should be accepted without testing the evidence. The panel’s findings matter, but the report comes from a commission appointed by the state government and has been rejected by the local MP. The fair test is whether courts accept its evidence and whether prosecutions establish planning, individual responsibility and police accountability, not just a sweeping narrative about the crowd.

Source: hindustantimes.com

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