Delhi: SP MP Zia Ur Rehman heads to Sambhal amid tensions, police deployed

As chaos erupted ahead of the SP delegation's scheduled visit, Samajwadi Party (SP) Lok Sabha MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq on Saturday said that he was leaving for the Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh. He said that they would form a strategy after holding talks with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in case the police stop them from visiting the district affected by violence.

"I am leaving for Sambhal and the party MPs are with me. If the police stop us, we will formulate a strategy after holding talks with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav," Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq said.

This comes after SP leader Harendra Malik was stopped from visiting Sambhal by the Uttar Pradesh police amid the heavy traffic jam at Delhi Meerut Expressway. Malik on Saturday expressed his distrust with the government and administration report on the ongoing Sambhal violence. He said that the government must use different mediums to show the reality since district administration itself has been made a party in the matter.

"If we trusted (the government reports) why would we go? We know that the government's eyes and ears are the district administration. The government must use different mediums when the District administration itself is made a party in the matter. The way things have spiralled in Sambhal is very saddening. Sambhal (issue) didn't finish, the Ajmer Sharif (issue) already started. Where are we going? Where are we going to stop? This is a very big question," senior SP leader Harendra Malik told ANI.

Meanwhile, senior SP leader Mata Prasad Pandey was also stopped by the police early morning in Lucknow from visiting Sambhal. Pandey on Saturday morning informed that the district magistrate (DM) of Sambhal called him over the phone and asked him not to visit the district amid the ongoing tensions in the area. He said that a written notice should be given to him as per the rules, saying that he cannot go to Sambhal.

Earlier, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that imposing restrictions was a failure of the BJP government. He said that the government should have restricted those who dreamt about starting riots and raised "frenzied" slogans.

The security deployment in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district continues for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday amid tensions over the Shahi Jama Masjid Survey.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday asked Uttar Pradesh to ensure "harmony and peace" in Sambhal and directed the trial court there not to proceed in the suit against the Jama Masjid till the petition filed by the Masjid Committee against the survey order is listed in the High Court.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar directed that the report of the advocate commissioner, who conducted the survey of the mosque, should be kept in a sealed cover and should not be opened in the meantime.

Tensions in Sambhal had been simmering since the local court ordered a survey of the mosque on November 19. Opposing the court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid people clashed with police, resulting in the deaths of four persons. The survey followed a petition filed by some persons in the local court, claiming that the site of the mosque was previously a Harihar temple.