New Delhi: A Congress delegation was scheduled to visit violence affected Sambhal in western Uttar Pradesh on December 2, but party leaders were apprehensive they may not be allowed to reach the place by the state government.
The delegation, including politicians, human rights activists and advocates, aims to show solidarity with the victims of the recent communal violence and find out the truth in the matter, which invited sharp criticism from the opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who blamed the state government for the incidents.
Rahul, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, is unlikely to visit Sambhal on Monday and may travel, along with other party lawmakers later on, said Congress insiders.
“This is a PCC delegation’s visit on December 2 and is led by state unit chief Ajay Rai. They will meet the victims of violence and try to understand why the recent crisis took place in Sambhal,” AICC in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat.
The apprehension among the senior Congress leaders that the delegation’s visit may be blocked arose as a similar group of Samajwadi party leaders was not allowed to visit Sambhal by the administration on November 30. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had earlier announced Rs 5 lakh compensation each for the families of those allegedly killed in police firing in Sambhal.
“They may try to stop our delegation as well saying no outsiders are allowed in the trouble-torn area. But, we will not be deterred by that move. We will keep fighting the BJP’s divisive politics, which is aimed to polarise the electorate ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections,” AICC secretary in-charge of UP Dhiraj Gurjar told ETV Bharat.
Over the past few days, the Congress and its ally Samajwadi party blamed the BJP government in the state for allowing communal violence to take place in Sambhal where five civilians were allegedly killed in police firing during protests over a court-ordered survey of a mosque built during the reign of first Mughal emperor Babur in 1526.
The petitioners claimed the mosque was built over the ruins of a temple and demanded that Hindus be permitted to pray there. Later, the matter reached the Supreme Court, which stayed the implementation of the local court order till the High Court decided the issue in order to maintain peace in the area.
“The BJP is frustrated over the loss it suffered in the Lok Sabha elections because of the Congress-SP alliance as they have no other way to fight us, they are back to their old formula. But, we will not let that happen. The alliance will have to stay strong and fight the divisive forces and for that cooperation will be required. The SC’s intervention is welcome and will allow peace to prevail in Sambhal,” said Gurjar.
Earlier, Congress MP Imran Masood welcomed the top court’s order saying the lower court’s directive of a survey of the mosque was against a 1991 law, which stipulated the status quo of all religious structures as of August 15, 1947.
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