Ayodhya being repeated in Sambhal? A Hindutva strategy of using religion to maintain hold over power

By Sandeep Pandey, Salim Khan 

In Ayodhya the God descended and departed. A temple was built at his birth place. It is claimed that this temple was demolished to build a mosque. The mosque was demolished by Hindutva forces and a temple has now been built. In the process Hindutva forces gained hegemony in the country and captured political power. In Sambhal the God is yet to descend. The same story is being repeated as the Hindutva brigade finds this as convenient and efficacious strategy to maintain their hold over power.

The speed with which a petition was filed in a Sambhal court on 19 November, 2024, questioning the religious status of Shahi Jama Masjid situated there, the court appointed an advocate commissioner and the district administration facilitated a survey the same day was unprecedented in the ecosystem of usually lethargic legal and administrative machinery in India. On the second day of survey, 24 November, a crowd had assembled outside the mosque which became suspicious as the SDM Vandana Mishra insisted on emptying of a water tank inside the mosque raising fears of excavation, escalating the crowd tempers. Police resorted to lathi charge resulting in stampede. Police then fired tear gas and subsequently used bullets which claimed the lives of Naeem, Bilal, Ayan, Kaif and Ruman. Alam, Waseem, Hasan and son of Wasiullah were injured with bullets, some of whom are in hospital and some in jail. Crowd then resorted to stone pelting. The police escorted the survey team safely to a Hindu area where slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’ were raised on their arrival.

 A new pattern has emerged since the Yogi Adityanath government has come to power in U.P. In 2019, during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens protests police firing claimed the lives of 23 Muslim youth. However, police refused to take the responsibility and built a narrative that youth got killed in cross firing among protesters. Similarly, on 24 November, in Sambhal, it is being claimed that five youth got killed in a shoot out between two Muslim communities of Turk and Pathan. It was also claimed that bullet shells made in Pakistan and other countries were found on the spot and that it was an international conspiracy to cause riots in India.

36 years old Naeem, who used to make sweets, left his house on 24 November for the market to buy something. He found himself in the midst of a melee and was wounded by a police bullet. By the time has was taken to a hospital he was declared dead. His brother Tasleem narrated how police forced him to put thumb impression on an affidavit saying that his brother was killed in cross firing between Turks and Pathans and not by a police bullet.

19 years old Ayan used to work at a dhaba. When he started for work in the morning, he too was caught in the turmoil. He too was wounded by a police bullet but died at 10 pm in the hospital. His brother Kamil tells that police forced him to put thumb impression on a similar affidavit claiming that his brother was killed in firing between two communities and not by a police bullet.

Waseem, too was injured by a police bullet, however he survived. He is presently admitted in hospital of private Teerthankar Mahaveer University. His family has been handed a bill for his treatment of Rs. 3,08,090. As the police has washed their hands off of violence, the family is being told to bear the cost of treatment. The police first hits him with a bullet and is now telling him to pay for the cost of his treatment. The families of youth who died got Rs. 5 lakhs each from Samajwadi Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind but the injured did not receive any help. Nobody is even allowed to meet Waseem in the hospital.

Mohammad Tanveer is one among the unfortunate 80 who finds himself incarcerated. His only fault is that he has been identified in a video along with Deputy Superintendent of Police Anuj Chaudhary. Tanveer was arrested from his home after a police raid in the beginning of New Year. There are 33 people named and 2,750 unnamed in FIRs related to incidents of 24 November. Hence anybody criticising the government are threatened by the police and the sword of them being made an accused as part of these FIRs hangs on their head.

Only in one case, that of Alam who suffered a bullet injury, a case has been filed in court against the police for registration of a FIR. However, given the inclination of Sambhal courts so far, the case doesn’t stand much of a chance. In the remaining matters of bullet victims, either dead or alive, nobody has the courage to go against the police. The DSP is a person who is not shy of carrying a mace in front of a procession and was forthcoming is advising Muslims to stay indoors during Holi. The Chief Minister merely commented that this was the language of a wrestler, indirectly supporting his act.

Yogi government says that there was a conspiracy to cause riots in Sambhal. However, it appears that it is the government which is conspiring against the people. The court is biased or is ignoring the spirit of Places of Worship Act, 1991 and the police-administration is willingly becoming a tool of the political party in power. Nobody in the judiciary and administration cares that the religious harmony painstakingly built over generations in the country which is in the larger interest of peace and security of people is getting torn apart or the constitutional rights of equality, justice, liberty and the value of fraternity are getting violated. Sambhal has no history of communalism. However, the Hindutva forces with the help of judiciary, government and administration have vitiated the atmosphere and people live under fear. Many Muslims have fled lest they be implicated in police cases. People abusing religion for political gains must contemplate whether religion should result in justice or injustice.

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Sandeep Pandey is national General Secretary and Salim Khan is U.P. state General Secretary of Socialist Party (India)