The political row over the Sambhal violence intensified after Samajwadi Party leaders rejected the findings of the judicial commission, accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of orchestrating the events and selectively targeting members of the Muslim community. They also pointed to an earlier independent fact-finding report that offered a sharply different account of the November 2024 clashes.
Reacting to the commission’s report, SP MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq alleged that the violence was not spontaneous but “pre-planned by the police administration and the government.”
Barq questioned the credibility of the inquiry, arguing that despite access to CCTV footage, mobile phone videos and other material, the authorities had failed to produce any visual evidence showing local residents carrying firearms or opening fire. He further alleged that five unarmed people were killed during the incident, more than 100 innocent residents were jailed, and the government deliberately withheld the commission’s report for nearly a year before presenting it in the Assembly only months ahead of the elections to gain political advantage.
SP MP Mohibullah Nadvi also came to the defence of Barq and Suhel Iqbal, claiming that their names had been included in the report as part of a “pre-planned conspiracy.” According to Nadvi, their intervention during the unrest helped calm the situation and prevented further casualties in the police firing.
The violence erupted on November 24, 2024, during the second court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The survey followed a petition filed by Hindu litigants on November 19, claiming that the mosque had been constructed over the centuries-old Hari Har Temple, believed by devotees to be dedicated to Lord Kalki, during the 16th century. While the court ordered surveys on November 19 and November 24, it was the second exercise that coincided with the outbreak of violence.
The commission’s findings stand in contrast to an independent fact-finding report released in July 2025 by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and Karwan-e-Mohabbat. Titled Sambhal: Anatomy of an Engineered Crisis, the report characterised the violence as “targeted anti-Muslim violence” and alleged police excesses, state complicity and systematic repression.
According to the report, the second court-mandated survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid was conducted amid provocative Hindutva slogans and alleged acts of desecration, triggering protests that were met with lathi charges, tear gas and live police firing. It said the firing claimed the lives of five Muslim men, including minors.
The report also alleged that more than 85 people, most of them Muslims, were arrested in the aftermath of the violence. It accused the authorities of intimidating victims’ families, imposing internet restrictions and maintaining a heavy police presence to suppress alternative narratives. It further alleged that demolitions, mass detentions and repeated denial of bail were used to criminalise members of the Muslim community.
The fact-finding team additionally claimed that post-mortem reports were withheld and that there had been no accountability for the police firing. Karwan-e-Mohabbat founder Harsh Mander described the events as “manufactured” and warned that Sambhal risked becoming “a mirror of the road to Ayodhya.”
