The question of demography

Details of a confidential report submitted to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by the judicial commission constituted to probe last year's violence in Sambhal town, during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid there that killed four persons and injured several others, have mysteriously come to light.

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Selective 'leaks' of the report, which will be made public only after its findings are approved by the state cabinet and placed in the Assembly, indicate a well-known pattern—raising the bogey of demographic change and instilling fear in the majority community.

The violence in Sambhal was triggered after Hindus claimed that the mosque was built over an ancient Harihar temple, an extremely holy site, while the Muslims rejected the claim that there was a temple under the mosque.

The survey team's arrival led to violence resulting in the fatalities.

The report's findings, as revealed by 'sources', claim that the Hindu population in Sambhal has come down to 15 per cent from 45 per cent in 1947, while that of Muslims has gone up from 55 per cent in 1947 to 85 per cent.