No 'Neza Mela' in Sambhal this year as officials dub fair to commemorate Muslim general as 'treason'

Reports said that the officials denied permission saying that organising a fair to ‘commemorate' someone, who had plundered and looted the country and destroyed temples, was ‘treason’.

Lucknow: The district administration in Sambhal, which had witnessed large scale violence during a court mandated survey of a the Shahi Jama Masjid last year resulting in the death of four people, on Monday denied permission to organise the ‘Neza Mela’, an annual event held in the memory of Syed Salar Masud Ghazi, the nephew of 11th century Muslim ruler Mahmud Ghaznavi, who was a ‘plunderer’ and ‘looter’.

According to the reports, the office bearers of the ‘Neza Mela’ Committee met the district police officials on Monday seeking permission to hold the fair, which they said was a historic event and had an old history.

Reports said that the officials, however, denied permission saying that organising a fair to ‘commemorate’ someone, who had plundered and looted the country and destroyed temples, was ‘treason’.

On being pointed out that the fair had a long history, the officials said that whatever happened in the past was ‘wrong’ and that there would be no more ‘Neza Mela’ at Sambhal.

The district officials also cited the decision taken at a meeting of the fair committee members and the administration in 2023 that the name of the fair would be changed to ‘Sadbhavna Mela’.

The ‘Neza Mela’ is organised in the memory of Syed Salar Masud Ghazi, who had defeated a Rajput king in a battle in Sambhal in the 11th century. The three-day fair commemorates the battle. It is held after the Holi festival.

Mahmud Ghaznavi was infamous for demolishing the famous Somenath Temple in Gujarat besides plundering the country during his successive raids.