Sambhal mosque panel chief held over clashes

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday arrested Zafar Ali, the president of the Shahi Jama Masjid committee, for allegedly orchestrating violence in the Sambhal district of the state during a mosque survey in November last year, officials aware of the matter said.

According to officials, Ali was first detained from his residence, located around 100 metres from the mosque, at around 11am and then interrogated for close to four hours by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) over the violence, which claimed five lives. He was formally arrested after the questioning.

“On the basis of evidence collected, Zafar Ali was arrested for his role in inciting violence as a team surveyed the Shahi Jama Masjid following court orders. He was sent to jail following court orders,” Sambhal superintendent of police (SP) Krishan Kumar Bishnoi said. Ali denied the charges. “I did not incite any violence,” Ali said as he was being produced before a court in Chandausi.

Tension was brewing in Sambhal since November 19 after a civil court directed the advocate commissioner to conduct a survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid. An initial survey was conducted the same day. However, violence broke out during a second inspection of the mosque on November 24 as protesters clashed with police. At leastfivepeople died of gunshot wounds in the ensuing violence, and dozens, including personnel, were injured.

Police maintained that they did not fire at the protesters even though the agitators pelted stones and set vehicles on fire, adding that “some miscreants” in the crowd started the firing. The mosque committee contested the police version, accusing it of provoking the crowd, with Ali saying that the five men were killed in police firing.

Ali, a practising advocate and the head of the mosque’s committee—a position known as “Sadar” in the Muslim community— was booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 191(3) (rioting), 190 (unlawful assembly), 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), among others.

“Zafar Ali had been under police surveillance since the violence on November 24. We initially detained him for questioning last year but had to release him due to insufficient evidence. Over the past months, we have gathered substantial proof linking him to the unrest, which led to his arrest today,” Sambhal assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Shrish Chandra said.

Ali’s elder brother, Tahir Ali, also a lawyer, alleged that the arrest was an attempt to stop his brother from testifying before an Uttar Pradesh government-formed judicial commission investigating the case on Monday.

“Zafar was supposed to testify before the commission tomorrow [Monday], and that is why they are deliberately sending him to jail… We want peace, but the authorities are deliberately inciting public unrest,” he said.

According to Tahir, Zafar stood by his earlier stance that the police firing caused the deaths of five men — Naeem Gazi, Mohammad Bilal Ansari, Mohammad Ayaan, Naumaan (who went by one name) and Mohammad Kaif — in the aftermath of the clashes.

“He will testify that the police fired bullets and that the people who died were shot by the police. We will fight the case in court,” Tahir said.

Following Ali’s arrest, authorities deployed over 200 security personnel around the mosque and stationed forces from five police stations in the area. SP Bishnoi, along with other police officials, led a flag march to maintain order.

“Forces have been deployed to maintain peace... The situation is under control,” circle officer Anuj Chaudhary said.

The Uttar Pradesh Police’s SIT had earlier filed a charge sheet of over 4,000 pages in six of the 12 cases in the November 24 Sambhal violence. According to the charge sheet, there were 159 total accused in the case. It also mentioned that the weapons recovered from the site of violence and other places were manufactured in the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. A total of 79 individuals, including three women, have been arrested in connection with the violence.

An important religious and historical site for the Muslim community, the Shahi Jama mosque, which is at the centre of controversy, is believed to have been constructed around the 16th century by Mir Hindu Beg, a Mughal general. It is located in the heart of the city in Mohalla Kot Purvi. The Shahi mosque is a protected monument notified on December 22, 1920 under Section 3, sub-section (3) of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. It figures on the ASI’s website (Moradabad division) in the list of centrally protected monuments.

The surveys were ordered after Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain alleged that the mosque was built after demolishing the Hari Hara Mandir. The Hindu side said the presence of scriptures related to Hinduism existed inside the mosque and wanted worshipping rights at the complex – a charge dismissed by the Muslim side.

The court-appointed advocate commissioner in January submitted a survey report of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal in the court of civil judge (senior division) in a sealed packet. Advocate commissioner Ramesh Raghav also submitted a three-page covering letter along with the 45-page survey report. The contents of the report are not known, as the Supreme Court, on December 12, 2024, restrained courts across the country from admitting fresh suits or passing orders in pending ones seeking a survey of mosques to determine whether temples lie beneath them.