Sambhal Jama Masjid row: Friday prayers held peacefully amid tight security

Sambhal: The Friday prayers were held peacefully as the police stepped up security, imposed prohibitory orders and conducted a flag march at the Jama Masjid here following claims that the Mughal-era mosque was originally the site of an ancient temple significant to the Hindu faith.

Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said that Friday prayers were conducted safely in Sambhal’s Shahi Jama Masjid with the help of forces from seven police stations and tight security arrangements around the mosque.

The mosque was surveyed on Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple originally stood at the site.

The Central government, the Uttar Pradesh government, the Masjid Committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition, said Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner.

In view of the petition and subsequent survey, the police conducted a flag march in the area and warned people of strict action against anyone creating chaos over the issue, Vishnoi said earlier in the day.

“Clerics have been told to inform everyone that they should offer Namaz in their own mosques,” he said, adding that social media was also being closely monitored.

District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said that prohibitory orders have been imposed in the area preventing the gathering of more than five people.

Jain, who had filed the petition in the court for a survey of the mosque, has claimed that Mughal emperor Babar partly demolished the temple in 1529.

“The Harihar temple in Sambhal, we all know, is a central part of our faith. This is an ASI-protected area. There can be no encroachment of any kind in the ASI-protected area. There are many signs and symbols there which are of Hindu temple,” he had said.

Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath dispute.

Gopal Sharma, the local lawyer of the Hindu side, told PTI that in the writ filed in the Civil Judge Senior Division, “we have also mentioned Babar Nama and Ain e Akbari books in which it is confirmed that we have Hari Har Mandir”.

“Now the hearing of this case is on January 29 in which after the Advocate Commissioner’s report comes, we will decide our further action as to what we have to do next. Further survey will be required but at present we are waiting for the Advocate Commissioner’s report,” he added.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.

“The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places,” he had said.