Sambhal Files

An engineered silence weighs heavily on the stillness of the empty streets in the centuries-old town of Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, where clashes with police over yet another 'mandir-masjid' dispute led to the deaths of local Muslim men

- Rakhi Bose

MOHAMMAD Hassan was “shot” outside the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, in northern Uttar Pradesh, on the morning of November 24. He still doesn’t fully understand how it happened.

Hassan had gone searching for his younger brother amidst the pathraaw (stone pelting) outside the mosque, when either a bullet or shrapnel pierced his body, injuring his right arm. He didn’t see which “side” the projectile came from—locals or the police—and didn’t notice who was firing what.

“Main beech mein phans gaya. Jo bhi tha, aar paar chala gaya,” (I got stuck in the middle. Whatever it was, it went through me) he said three days later at the Sambhal district hospital, where policemen brought him after first taking him to the kotwali.

He is one of 2,500 people—many of whom are unidentified—booked by the Sambhal Police for Sunday’s violence, which left five dead. Locals and leaders allege police fired fatal shots during clashes over a court-ordered “survey” of Sambhal’s Shahi Jama Masjid, following claims that the mosque was built on temple ruins.

Hassan’s sister, Ashiya Bibi, said her brother told her he had been “shot with a bullet” and is “in custody” for suspected involvement in the violence. She also mentioned that the family is under immense pressure. “Hassan wasn’t part of the crowd. He had just gone to look for our younger brother. Our father died only 20 days ago and we later found out the younger brother had gone to offer prayers at his grave nearby,” she said. “Hassan was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

There are others in Sambhal who echo her travail, namely the families of five men, all working-class Muslims, including two teenagers, who died in the Sunday violence.