New Delhi: The three-member judicial committee appointed to investigate the Sambhal violence submitted its report to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday. Though the report has yet to be made public, it is expected to provide insight into the causes of the unrest in November 2024 and identify those responsible for the incident, which left four people dead and many others injured.

The report has already sparked reactions even before its release.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, a senior advocate and one of the petitioners in the Sambhal case, alleged there was a coordinated effort to obstruct the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team, carried out with the active collusion and support of ‘foreign forces’.

He explained that despite clear court directives, the ASI team faced significant difficulties in conducting the survey of the Mughal-era mosque on 19 and 24 November last year.

Claiming a foreign conspiracy behind the Sambhal violence, Jain said the attack on police officers was premeditated, aimed at eliminating the survey team, obstructing the court order, and halting any examination of the site.

“Many disruptive and anti-national forces are active in Sambhal. The so-called vanguards of secularism should visit the city and see the ground reality,” he added.

He further stated that the Shahi Jama Masjid used to be the Harihar temple in the past. It was demolished by the Mughal ruler Babar and then, in later years, was appropriated by the Muslim community, claiming it to be a mosque.

The three-member judicial committee, in its 450-page report, has also reportedly shared insights on the declining Hindu population in Sambhal in the post-Independence era.

According to the report, during independence, Muslims and Hindus constituted about 55 per cent and 45 per cent of the population in the district, but currently, the Hindu population has declined to 15 per cent while the Muslim community has risen to 85 per cent.

Responding to these findings, Vishnu Som said that Sambhal has seen dramatic demographic change over the years and added that the Hindu community has been made to live under constant fear and also forced to live as ‘second-class citizens’ in the city.

(With inputs from IANS)