Muslim-dominated Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh has recently been in the news following the unrest during a court-ordered Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. The violence against authorities led to casualties, injuries and destruction of property. Notably, there have been anti-Hindu riots in the region on multiple occasions, including in 1976, 1978, 1986. Likewise, there have been frequent reports of Hindu migration from there as well.
Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, recently addressed the state assembly and highlighted the same issues.
The violence of 1986 which was largely forgotten, has been grabbing attention again as stories emerge. Due to politicial reasons, many victims still await justice. A son has applied to the Judicial Investigation Commission regarding the murder case of his father, who was killed while being locked inside a store. He stated that his family used to deal in wholesale sugar and the shopkeeper who murdered his father was their retail customer, reported Dainik Bhaskar.
“He took my father inside the store and, with the assistance of his staff, assassinated him when the rumors began to circulate following the deaths of two Muslims,” the son shared. Rashtra Bandhu Rastogi, who lives in the Sambhal Kotwali neighborhood of Kot Purvi, submitted the petition to the Judicial Inquiry Commission on 21st January at the PWD Guest House. He informed that the 1986 violence claimed the life of his late father, Bhagwat Sharan.
He expressed, “I revealed everything about the incident. The intersection of Chaman Sarai and the hospital was marked with a flag. There was a rumour at the time that two Muslims had been murdered by Hindus which resulted in a lot of tension and something akin to an unofficial curfew was imposed. Pushpa Singhal of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) had arrived that day, and my father had gone out of the house to hear her speech.”
“He needed to buy sugar and went to Kheru Halwai’s shop to do so. My father walked into his shop after the shopkeeper directed him to come inside because he might tumble in the crowd that was shouting from the direction of Ghantaghar market. He shut the store’s front door and then the employees along with the owner murdered him,” Rashtra Bandhu Rastogi recounted the horrific incident.
According to him, the only reason his father was killed since he was the first to bring RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) to Sambhal. His acquaintance Kallu called him inside the shop to end his life, per a report in News18 Hindi. Rastogi was one of the people that moved out from Khaggu Sarai many years ago. He relocated to Sambhal’s Kot Purvi locality with his family. Rashtra Bandhu Rastogi mentioned that his father founded RSS in Sambhal. The former fought the case against all of the accused for half of his life, but he was unable to obtain justice owing to hostile witnesses.
The location of the temple in Khaggu Sarai was once home to numerous Hindu households, according to Rashtra Bandhu Rastogi, who had experienced the hardships of migration in Sambhal. However, people left Sambhal after the bloodshed there. He once owned several warehouses but then lost everything and now in his old age works in a post office to make ends meet. The accused even attacked him multiple times when he went to court to seek justice for his father. He asserted that a large scale riot would have transpired if the police had not been present during the rioting by Muslim mob on 24th November.
Rashtra Bandhu Rastogi stated that his father had gone out to buy sugar at the time of the unrest in Sambhal in 1986 when the rioters came from behind. His father was well-known in the community and was associated with the RSS. A shopkeeper had called him and assured him that he would be saved if he came inside the store. However, he was the one who stabbed his father with a knife after the shutter was pulled down. Afterward, an ice cutter was used to slash him from neck to head and he passed away from the assault.
He unveiled that the perpetrator was well known to their family. “We used to sell sugar and sulfur at wholesale prices. He used to make batashas (sweets) by taking the material in retail from our place. The murder was planned. I also filed a complaint from Moradabad, and despite a lot of effort and advocacy, he was not punished. The case lasted for three or four years. Due to litigation, I was in financial despair, and my business failed as well. I had to stop doing carpet business with Muslims. I was unable to fight the case in the high court because of my poor economic state.”
Rashtra Bandhu Rastogi informed that the judicial inquiry team had arrived and he had presented the case to them. “We informed them that we had not received justice at the time and requested for the same at the earliest. We told them that we survived the events of 24th November 2024 but my father was slain in 1986.”
