Sambhal Mosque Dispute: Supreme Court Hearing Today
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district witnessed massive violence following a lower court’s order for an ASI survey at the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid. The Supreme Court of India will hear the plea today filed by the management committee of the Masjid challenging the November 19 order of the district court.
The petitioners have claimed this is an “extraordinary case,” so the court should take “extraordinary steps.” A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna will hear the case.
Read also: Fact Check: Is Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid Not Covered Under Places Of Worship Act?
Filing the petition in the top court, the Masjid Committee requested an immediate stay on the order and demanded an early hearing from the Chief Justice.
Tension has been brewing in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal since November 19, when the district court ordered a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, which was carried out following the claim that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site of the mosque.
Locals, fearing the demolition of the masjid, gathered to protest. In the clash with the security personnel, six people died and several others were injured.
In the petition filed by the Masjid Committee, they claimed that the civil court had passed one-sided orders and directed the survey to be conducted on the same day with undue haste, and it did not call for a response from the affected parties or conduct any judicial proceedings.
The survey was ordered in a manner that it may have a similar impact on other places of worship across the country as well. Such orders have a tendency to ignite communal passions, cause law and order problems, and damage the secular fabric of the country, the petition contended.
The petition stated that the Shahi Jama Masjid at Chandausi in Sambhal has been standing since the 16th century and has been in continuous use by the Muslims as a place of worship.
The violence of November 24 in Sambhal following the court’s judgement has sparked a huge political row inside the Parliament as well. In the Lok Sabha, the opposition members gathered at the well of the House, raising slogans demanding action against the perpetrators of the Sambhal violence.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti, claiming that the violence at Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, was the direct result of the judgement passed by the Chief Justice of India, said, “Thanks to a former Chief Justice of India, a Pandora’s box has been opened, sparking a contentious debate about minority religious places.”
