Report blames police excesses, selective use of Law for Sambhal deaths
New Delhi: A detailed report and a documentary on the violence, which took place last November in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India, has established that administration bias, police excesses, arbitrary arrests and a selective use of the law resulted in five deaths and created a sense of fear and insecurity among Muslim community.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and Karwan-e-Mohabbat jointly released the report “Sambhal: Anatomy of an Engineered Crisis” and the documentary “Sambhal Mosque Killings” at the Press Club of India in the national capital, the other day.
The event included a panel discussion and testimonies from survivors, activists, and lawyers. The findings revealed disturbing facts about police action, religious targeting, and denial of justice.
Nadeem Khan, National Secretary of APCR, questioned the events that led to the violence. He said, “We are releasing this report six months after the violence to ask why two surveys were conducted without a proper process, why a slogan-chanting mob was allowed into the mosque, and why the community was not consulted. This selective use of the law led to five deaths in Sambhal,” he said.
The violence began after a local court ordered a sudden survey of the Shahi Jamia Masjid on 19 November 2024. A second survey, conducted on 24 November, included the presence of a loud mob and actions seen as insulting to the mosque, which triggered large protests.
Shavez, a resident and school manager, shared his ordeal. “Many innocent people have been jailed. They are from poor families and haven’t even been granted bail. Part of my school was taken over without notice. When I tried to resist, I was threatened, and even legal papers were rejected until I went to the high court. Things are only getting worse,” he said.
Prakriti, a researcher from the fact-finding team, described her experience. “We were watched at all times during our visit. Police were already present when we reached the victims’ homes. This looked like a test of total control using power and fear. We saw demolitions and refusal to accept genuine documents,” she said.
Well-known activist Harsh Mander, who led the fact-finding and made the documentary, questioned the historical claims used to justify the unrest. “Suddenly, people claim that Sambhal is the birthplace of Kalki. How far are we going to go in history to justify violence? If you dig a mosque, you find a temple. Dig a temple, and you find a stupa. Where does it end? Sambhal had no record of Hindu-Muslim clashes. Now they are trying to turn it into another Ayodhya,” he said.
Advocate Ahmad Ibrahim spoke about the legal concerns. “We filed a case asking if police followed rules on 24 November. There is no evidence of guns with the protestors. If police fired, then we need a report on who died and why. No answers have come yet. If the law were applied fairly, this would never have happened,” he stated.
Reading from the report, Navsharan Singh described it as “deeply disturbing.” She said, “Girls were arrested without women police officers present. Five people were found dead three days later. Families had to sign blank papers to get back the bodies. The internet was shut down, and no one was allowed to visit Sambhal. The whole area was under lockdown. Even after death, there was no respect.”
