Sambhal (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 22 : Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman on Friday offered prayers at Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal amid tight security arrangements and said he is "against the survey" of the mosque and will fight it legally.
Rehman reached Sambhal following a survey conducted in the mosque on November 19 and called it "unfortunate" and accused "mischievous elements" of disrupting Sambhal's harmony by filing a petition for the survey in the court.
"Namaz should be always offered peacefully, but police administration has their own thoughts, why these arrangements have been done (police force has been deployed at the Masjid)...We peacefully offered the Namaz...What happened three days ago is unfortunate because all communities have been living in Sambhal in harmony. But some mischievous elements, who filed the petition, are trying to harm the environment...I am against the survey of whether it is Gyanvapi or Shahi Jama Masjid...We will fight this legally...," said Zia Ur Rehman on Friday.
Notably, senior advocate Vishnu Shanker Jain has filed a petition in the court of the civil judge at Sambhal claiming the mosque being a temple. After this, a survey was carried out on November 19 in the presence of the local police and members of the mosque's management committee.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati reacting over the development said that the government and the Supreme Court should take cognizance of the "sudden dispute."
In a post on X, Mayawati said, "The news of the sudden dispute, hearing and then the hasty survey carried out at the Shahi Jama Masjid of Sambhal district of UP is making headlines in the national domain and media, but the government and the Supreme Court should also take cognizance of disrupting the harmony and atmosphere in this manner."
Earlier on Thursday District Magistrate, Rajendra Pensia said that a flag march was conducted by the police forces and the town turned into a fortress with two of the three approach roads to the mosque, located at the centre of the town, being sealed.