Sambhal's Muslims face police violence and administrative subterfuge | The Caravan

On 24 November 2024, five Muslim men were killed during the violence that engulfed Sambhal in the aftermath of a controversial survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. 51 Muslims were arrested, including three women and at least one minor. The accused have been denied bail. The Caravan visited Sambhal twice—in the immediate aftermath of the violence and a month later—to get a sense of what had happened and what the future holds.

Relatives of those who were killed on 24 November were struggling to find any sort of concrete information about what had happened, with little hope for justice, while those of the arrested people were trying to figure out how to prove their innocence. They recounted stories of the police acting arbitrarily, with little evidence or regard for their circumstances. Many people complained about police harassment and intimidation in the aftermath of the violence.

Residents told The Caravan that the police violence was premeditated, and that the situation had been engineered with the involvement of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to distract from complaints about the conduct of the by-election in the neighbouring district and to foment communal tensions in a city where Muslims make up over three-fourths of the population.

On 14 December, an old temple in Sambhal's Khaggu Sarai was reopened by the police and district administration. In a viral video, the circle officer Anuj Chaudhary and other police personnel can be seen cleaning the temple—built by a Hindu family that used to live in the area till 2006—after which officials from the police and district administration conducted prayers at the site. The CO, who also stands accused by residents of directing the police violence on 24 November, is now the subject of an inquiry regarding his participation, while in official uniform, in a rath yatra in Sambhal on 1 January.

Reporting: Shahid Tantray and Sunil Kashyap
Video: Shahid Tantray
Editing: Sibtain Hyder
Subtitling: Rishab Gaur
Copy Editing: Ajeet Mahale, Aranya

Read Shahid Tantray and Sunil Kashyap's report on how an atmosphere of fear persists in the wake of the Sambhal violence:
https://caravanmagazine.in/crime/surv...

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