Cong workers scuffle with police in Lucknow as party delegation stopped from going to Sambhal
2 Dec 2024 5:28 PM IST
Lucknow/Sambhal: Scores of Congress workers jostled with police personnel and tried to scale barricades outside the party office here on Monday as a party delegation led by its Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai was prevented from leaving for Sambhal, which has been made out of bounds by administration after the December 24 violence. Amid high drama, Rai, who took the driver's seat with senior party leader PL Punia seated next to him, could not leave in his car for the "fact-finding" visit even as scuffles broke out between the cops and the slogan-shouting party workers, who tried to clear the way for their leaders.
Rai then stepped out to join the workers and they sat on a dharna outside the party office in protest against the police action.
A large police contingent had been deployed and barricades put up since Sunday night around the Congress office in Lucknow's Mall Avenue area to prevent Rai and others from leaving for Sambhal, which was hit by violence during protests against a court-ordered survey.
The Congress hit out at the BJP government, saying it was trying to hide its failure with its "anti-democratic" actions. Rai, who had spent the night at the Congress office along with several party workers, later said the party delegation will visit Sambhal when prohibitory orders are lifted.
Speaking to reporters after being stopped from going to Sambhal, Rai said, "The administration has told me that prohibitory orders are in place (in Sambhal) till December 10. I told them that our party (delegation) would go there. The administration said that before December 10, they will let us know.
"And, the day the prohibitory orders are lifted, the Congress delegation will definitely go to Sambhal."
To a question, Rai said, "They may extend the prohibitory order after December 10, as they are feeling afraid. The government is perpetrating this atrocity and injustice to hide its failures. We will definitely go to Sambhal."
In a post of X in Hindi, the Congress said, "The Congress delegation led by UP Congress President @kashikirai ji has been stopped from reaching Sambhal. This dictatorship of the UP government was strongly opposed by Congress colleagues including Ajay Rai ji.
"Our courage is not going to be broken by the arbitrariness of the government and the police. We will continue to try to establish peace in Sambhal and provide justice to the people. The struggle continues..."
Before leaving for Sambhal, Rai and Punia paid tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the party office.
The UP Congress in a post on X said, "Though the BJP government, through conspiracy and misuse of power, has prevented the Congressmen under the leadership of State President Shri @kashikirai ji to go to Sambhal, we will continue to fight against the violence that took place there due to their conspiracy!"
"The Congress Party will expose the conspiracy of the BJP behind the violence in Sambhal and bring out its true face before the public. This state cannot run at all with the slogan 'batenge to katenge'," the UP Congress said.
The party also said that the morale of its workers was intact even in the face of police action. "We are trying to reach Sambhal to establish peace. We are fighting! We will fight!" the UP Congress said.
The Congress workers moving from Delhi towards Sambhal were also stopped at the UP border by the state police.
Senior Congress leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui and former UP Congress chief Brijlal Khabri were among those who were turned back by the police.
Th police had on Sunday night erected barricades outside the party's office in the state capital and the residences of its several leaders who were to accompany Rai on the Congress' planned fact-finding visit to Sambhal.
Tension has been brewing in Sambhal since November 19, when a Mughal-era mosque was surveyed on court orders following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.
Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near Shahi Jama Masjid and clashed with security personnel. Four people died and several others were injured in the violence that ensued.
The Congress' Sambhal city president Tauqeer Ahmed told reporters on Monday that the delegation of the Uttar Pradesh Congress was to reach Sambhal under Rai's leadership to offer condolences to the grieving families, take stock of the situation, and appeal for peace.
"Earlier, the district officer had imposed a ban on entering Sambhal till November 30, before that we had announced the delegation's visit on December 2. But now, the police administration is stopping everyone from coming to Sambhal. This is against democracy," Ahmed said.
Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Aradhana Mishra said, "The incident in Sambhal is not just another ordinary incident. It is a big incident. The Congress delegation under Ajay Rai wanted to go there on a fact-finding mission. Since yesterday (Sunday) night, I have been placed under house arrest. Our party leaders are being stopped."
"This is complete anarchy on the part of the government. The government is trying to hide its failure by citing the imposition of Section 163 (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and is not allowing us to go there (Sambhal) from Lucknow," Mishra added.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress chief spent the night at the Congress committee office along with several party workers. "If prevented, we would agitate peacefully in a Gandhian way as we are followers of Mahatma Gandhi," Rai had said.
The ban on outsiders' entry was to expire on Saturday.
The curbs under section 163 (power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the BNSS, set to expire on Sunday, have now been extended till December 31.
Members of a judicial commission on Sunday visited the Shahi Jama Masjid and other areas that witnessed violence on November 24.
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