Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Opposition alliance partners Congress and the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday kept the heat on the ruling BJP on the violence in Sambhal with Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav describing in the Lok Sabha the events at the small Uttar Pradesh town as “a well-planned conspiracy”.
And on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi along with five other party MPs have vowed to visit the troubled town where the district administration has clamped curbs on entry of outsiders till the last day of the year.
In his speech in the Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged the incident in Sambhal, where five people died when the survey of a mosque sparked violence, had been carefully crafted.
“Sambhal was known for its communal amity. People from both the communities have lived for a thousand years with a feeling of brotherhood. What happened suddenly in Sambhal was a well-thought strategy, well-planned to kill the feeling of brotherhood. A well-planned conspiracy,” Akhilesh said.
He accused the district administration and police of working in tandem with the ruling BJP.
“Along with those who filed the petition [claiming that the Sambhal mosque was built on a temple], the administrative officials and police officers are responsible for vitiating the atmosphere of Sambhal. They should be suspended and a case of murder filed against them to give justice to the people,” said the SP chief.
He targeted both Adityanath and Narendra Modi without naming the Uttar Pradesh chief minister or the prime minister.
“This is the battle between Delhi and Lucknow. Some in Lucknow want to take the same path that they have seen others take to reach Delhi,” Akilesh said.
Akhilesh gave a detailed account of what had happened in Sambhal in his speech, with some interruption from the Treasury benches led by Union minister and North Mumbai MP Piyush Goyal.
“The court gave an order for a survey at the Shahi Jama Masjid without even listening to the other side on the same day a petition [claiming that the mosque was built on a temple] was filed. The district magistrate and the superintendent of police did not even read the order and reached the Jama Masjid to conduct the survey on November 19,” he claimed.
Akhilesh said that while the Masjid committee was preparing for the next hearing scheduled for November 29, on the night of November 23 --- three days after the Assembly bypolls were held in nine seats of which six went to the BJP – the committee members were informed that another survey will be held the next morning.
“The surprised committee members asked since the survey had already been completed on November 19, why a second survey was required and asked for a court order,” he said.
“The next morning, almost 90 minutes after the second survey was being carried out, a crowd had assembled and asked about the reason behind the survey. The circuit officer misbehaved with the locals, used foul language and when a section of crowd responded with pelting stones, a lathicharge was ordered. The officers used their department-issued and personal weapons to fire at the crowd. Video recording of the same is available. Five innocents who had stepped out of their homes to shop were killed,” Akhilesh said.
The Uttar Pradesh government, which has ordered a judicial probe into the incident in Sambhal, has denied any firing by the policemen present.
Akhilesh said the BJP and its supporters’ insistence on “khudai” (digging) in every corner of the country would end up hurting the country’s peace and communal harmony.
“This khudai will dig up our country’s communal harmony, brotherhood and Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb,” he said. "It is not without basis when we say that the government does not follow the Constitution.”
In the Rajya Sabha, SP member and Akhilesh’s uncle Ram Gopal was stopped from completing his speech when he raised points similar to what his nephew said in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition walked out in protest.
The elder Yadav linked the Sambhal incident to the bypoll, which was postponed from November 13 to November 20, and like Akhilesh, described the Sambhal incident as “pre-planned.”
He also made an oblique reference like his nephew: “Babaji saw the Sabarmati movie and did this... Maybe he wants to come to Delhi by instigating riots."
At one point, as Yadav was speaking, the Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said: "You made your point."
He then called Sandosh Kumar P of the CPI to raise his issue regarding the recent landslides in Wayanad in Kerala. That led to the Opposition walkout.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai and members of the party were stopped from visiting Sambhal on Monday.
“Rahul Gandhi will leave for Sambhal on Wednesday morning and meet the victims of the violence. The administration has been informed about the Leader of Opposition’s visit,” said a Congress leader.
