LUCKNOW: The three-member judicial panel appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate the communal violence that erupted in Sambhal in November 2024 submitted its report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday.
According to the state Information Department, the 450-page report details the events of the November 24 violence and also examines the history of previous communal incidents in the city.
The judicial commission—constituted on 29 November 2024—was headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Devendra Kumar Arora, with retired IAS officer Amit Mohan and retired IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain as members.
The violence was triggered by protests from the Muslim community over a local court’s order to conduct a survey to determine whether a Harihar temple once stood on the site where the Shahi Jama Masjid now stands. The protests turned violent, leading to the deaths of five people and injuries to several others, including police personnel.
The survey had been ordered by the Sambhal court on 19 November 2024 following petitions from the Hindu side claiming that the mosque was constructed over a demolished Harihar temple dating back to 1529, during the Mughal era.
Sources familiar with the report said it goes beyond the November 2024 incident, documenting communal flare-ups in Sambhal over several decades and their socio-demographic impact. It reportedly highlights a significant demographic shift, noting that at the time of independence, the Hindu population in the Sambhal Nagar Palika area was 45%, while Muslims made up 55%. At present, the Hindu population has reportedly dropped to 15%, while the Muslim population has increased to 85%.
The report is said to document 15 communal riots in the city since independence, with the 1978 riot marking a major demographic turning point. It also reportedly mentions allegations of forced religious conversions, land encroachments, and the disappearance of original Hindu property owners.
Statements from over 200 witnesses were reportedly recorded, including individuals who witnessed the 1978 riots. Some claimed that a Shiva temple once existed on the current site of the Shahi Jama Masjid and that a Hindu well—previously central to religious festivities—was replaced with a platform by members of the minority community.
According to the sources, the report also claims that the November 2024 violence was premeditated, with miscreants being brought in from outside Sambhal to provoke unrest. However, the timely intervention by police reportedly prevented a wider conflagration.
Further, the report is said to have flagged concerns about the presence of terror modules in Sambhal, along with a flourishing trade in illegal arms and narcotics. It also mentions a controversial speech allegedly delivered by Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq on 22 November 2024 at Jama Masjid, in which he is reported to have said that “Muslims are the masters of this country, not the servants.” The MP reportedly appeared before the panel to present his statement.
Principal Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad confirmed the receipt of the report, stating: “The government had constituted a judicial commission to probe the Sambhal incident. The report has been submitted and further action will follow. The administration is fully alert to maintain law and order, and no attempt to disturb peace will be tolerated.” He refrained from commenting on the findings, noting that the report was still under review.
BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi reacted strongly, claiming that repeated riots and the killings of Hindus in Sambhal had forced a mass exodus. “This is not just a local issue—it’s a national security concern. Deliberate demographic changes are being engineered,” he asserted.