On 16th December, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the Uttar Pradesh assembly recounted the history of riots in Sambhal and stated that 209 Hindus were killed in them. The internal report of the Sambhal district administration also confirmed the figure of deaths of Hindus in riots. OpIndia accessed a report that details one of the violent episodes when 5 Hindus were killed in the riots that broke out in 1976.
Curfew had to be imposed for seven days to control the situation at the time. The rumor that a Hindu man had killed a Muslim cleric triggered the unrest. According to the report, on 29th February 1976, Muslims spread a rumor that a half-mad man named Rajkumar Saini of Pethia village had murdered a cleric when in reality his life was ended by his co-religionist during a fight in the mosque committee. Afterwards, a Muslim mob led by Manjar Shafi and Attaullah Tatari demolished Surajkund and Manas temple.
They then tried to burn a man named Kishanlal’s house at Sarthal Chowki. However, Hindus stood up to them and they ran away while pelting stones. Meanwhile, Hari Singh of Sotipura and Rakesh Vaishya of Kotpurvi Mohalla (locality) were killed. On 24th April of the same year, an explosion took place at another person named Kallu’s house in Kotpurvi Mohalla. His son Salam died during the treatment. The report disclosed that the administration arrested 20 to 22 guilty Muslims and then also detained equal number of innocent Hindus to showcase a balanced narrative in the matter.
Shafiqur Rahman Barq was also emerging as a leader at the time. He was a key player in Sambhal’s deadliest riot in 1978. The leader of the Muslim rioters in the 1976 riots, Manzar Shafi, was also involved in the 1978 riots. He had even abducted the wife and daughter of a Hindu teacher. He set the young girl free after her rape but her mother was rescued by the Hindus. Shafiqur Rahman Barq had stopped the entry of Hindus in the Harihar temple after 1978 violence.
It is significant that the administration prepared the report on the riots in Sambhal which illustrated that the population of Hindus in the area has been gradually decreasing due to the violence. At the time of the country’s independence, the population of Hindus in the Sambhal municipal area was 45% which has reduced to 15 to 20% today. On the other hand, Muslims were 55% and their numbers have unprecedentedly grown to 80 to 85%.
