LUCKNOW: Amid chaos over the SP delegation's visit to Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party (SP) President Shyam Lal Pal on Saturday was put under house arrest, the official handle of SP claimed on X. The SP condemned the actions of the UP Police while accusing the state government of "disgracing" the Constitution and democracy.
"Yogi government is afraid of SP delegation! On the orders of the government, the police prevented the honourable state president Shri Shyam Lal Pal ji from coming to Sambhal and put him under house arrest. The BJP government is tearing apart the constitution and democracy. Highly condemnable," the Samajwadi Party posted on X.
Meanwhile, SP Lok Sabha MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq on Saturday said that he was leaving for the Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh. He said that they would form a strategy after holding talks with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in case the police stop them from visiting the district affected by violence.
Earlier, SP leader Harendra Malik was stopped from visiting Sambhal by the Uttar Pradesh police amid the heavy traffic jam at Delhi Meerut Expressway. Malik on Saturday expressed his distrust with the government and administration report on the ongoing Sambhal violence. He said that the government must use different mediums to show the reality since district administration itself has been made a party in the matter.
"If we trusted (the government reports) why would we go? We know that the government's eyes and ears are the district administration. The government must use different mediums when the District administration itself is made a party in the matter. The way things have spiralled in Sambhal is very saddening. Sambhal (issue) didn't finish, the Ajmer Sharif (issue) already started. Where are we going? Where are we going to stop? This is a very big question," senior SP leader Harendra Malik told ANI.
Senior SP leader and LoP in the state assembly Mata Prasad Pandey was also stopped by the police early morning in Lucknow from visiting Sambhal. Pandey on Saturday morning informed that the district magistrate (DM) of Sambhal called him over the phone and asked him not to visit the district amid the ongoing tensions in the area. He said that a written notice should be given to him as per the rules, saying that he cannot go to Sambhal.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that imposing restrictions was a failure of the BJP government. He said that the government should have restricted those who dreamt about starting riots and raised "frenzied" slogans.
The security deployment in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district continues for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday amid tensions over the Shahi Jama Masjid Survey.
Tension in Sambhal has been ongoing ever since the local court ordered a survey of the mosque on November 19. Opposing the court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid people clashed with police, resulting in the deaths of four persons. The survey followed a petition filed by some persons in the local court, claiming that the site of the mosque was previously a Harihar temple.