Congress workers scuffle with police in Lucknow as party delegation stopped from going to Sambhal

Lucknow/Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh: Scores of Congress workers raised slogans and jostled with police personnel outside the party's office in Lucknow on Monday as they were prevented from going towards violence-hit Sambhal.

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 the unit's chief Ajay Rai on the Congress' planned fact-finding visit to Sambhal.

As Congress workers, led by Rai, attempted to set out for Sambhal on Monday, police stopped them at the barricades, resulting in noisy scenes and chaos.

The party termed "anti-democratic" the act by the police to stop its leaders from heading for the violence-hit district.

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.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Congress' Sambhal city president Tauqeer Ahmed said that a 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.

He claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government and the Sambhal district administration completely failed to contain the violence in Sambhal.

In Lucknow, heavy police force was deployed outside the Congress' office in the Mall Avenue locality. Rai, along with other party leaders and workers, were seen trying to force their way through the barricades.

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.

She added that section 163 of the BNSS is imposed in Sambhal, and not in Lucknow.

Speaking to PTI earlier in the day, Rai said, "We had decided to visit Sambhal on December 2 as the government ban on the entry of public representatives was to be lifted by November 30. Now, they have suddenly extended the ban till December 10. The government clearly wants to hide its flaws."

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 then.

Several Samajwadi Party (SP) lawmakers, including its Sambhal MP, were stopped from entering the violence-hit district on Saturday as the administration extended the ban on the entry of outsiders and public representatives into the area till December 10 to maintain "peace and order".

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.

Amid tight security, members of a judicial commission on Sunday visited the Shahi Jama Masjid and other areas that witnessed violence on November 24.