LUCKNOW: A 15-member delegation of Samajwadi Party (SP) will go to UP's Sambhal on Saturday to gather information about the violence that broke out after a survey in the Shahi Jama Masjid complex, the party said on Friday.
SP state president Shyam Lal Pal said that on the instructions of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, a party delegation will go to Sambhal on Saturday.
After taking detailed information about the violence that took place there, will submit the report to the party chief, he said.
Congress state president Ajay Rai told PTI that a Congress delegation will go there on December 2.
The situation in Sambhal has been tense since the first survey of the city's Jama Masjid was conducted on November 19 on the orders of a local court.
The petitioner has claimed that Jama Masjid stands on a previous Harihar temple.
Violence erupted on November 24 as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel, leading to stone pelting and arson.
Four people died and scores of others, including policemen, were injured in the violence.
Police have denied firing at the protesters opposing the survey.
A note by SP state chief Pal shared on 'X' said that the delegation includes Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Lal Bihari Yadav, SP state president Shyamlal Pal, MPs Ziaur Rahman Barq, Harendra Malik, Ruchi Veera, Iqra Hasan and Neeraj Maurya.
Ziaur Rahman Barq, who would be part of the delegation, has been booked in connection with the November 24 violence for allegedly committing "provocative acts".
MLAs Kamal Akhtar, Ravidas Mehrotra, Nawab Iqbal Mahmood and Pinky Singh Yadav will also be part of the delegation, the note said.
Earlier, the Samajwadi Party (SP) had postponed the proposed visit of its delegation after getting assurance from the Director General of Police of a fair investigation into the violence.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey had said in a press conference last Tuesday: "I was supposed to leave for Sambhal at 10 am today, but in the meantime I spoke to the Director General of Police.We told him that our people are being framed, even FIRs have been lodged against those who were not present there."
Pandey said the DGP assured him of a fair investigation and visit asked them to visit Sambhal after three days.
The Sambhal district administration has imposed prohibitory orders in the district and entry of outsiders is prohibited till Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the trial court in Uttar Pradesh to refrain from proceeding in the suit concerning Sambhal’s Jama Masjid until the mosque committee’s petition challenging the survey order is heard by the High Court.
A two-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, also instructed the Uttar Pradesh administration to ensure peace and harmony in the region.
"The advocate commissioner’s report must remain in a sealed cover and not be opened in the meantime. Peace and harmony must be maintained at any cost," the bench ordered. It further clarified that no further actions should be taken by the trial court on its survey order.
The directive comes in response to a plea filed by the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid Committee (SSJMC) seeking a stay on the November 19 order of the Sambhal Civil Judge (Senior Division), which mandated a survey of the mosque following claims it was built on a demolished temple during the Mughal era.
The mosque committee argued that the order was issued hastily without allowing the defendants sufficient time to respond or seek legal remedies. The plea also highlighted that the survey and subsequent actions had triggered communal violence, resulting in the deaths of six Muslim youths and escalating tensions in the area.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the petition on Friday after the mosque committee sought an urgent hearing. The petitioner urged the court to halt the surveys, asserting that such actions risk undermining the nation’s secular and democratic fabric.
