3 killed in clashes over mosque survey in northern India

ANKARA

Three civilians were killed as clashes erupted in a northern Indian town over a survey of a Mughal-era mosque, officials said on Sunday.

A local court recently ordered a survey of Shahi Jama Masjid in the Sambhal town of Uttar Pradesh state, following a petition claiming that the temple stood at the site of the mosque.

On Sunday morning, when the team arrived in the town to conduct the survey, locals opposed the move, triggering clashes between security personnel and the natives.

Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, a senior civil official, confirmed the death of three civilians and said several policemen were also injured.

When the survey was underway, a group of people gathered in the area and raised slogans and later started throwing stones as police tried to clear the area, he said.

Police have also detained at least 10 people as the tension increased in the area.

Local parliamentarian Zia Ur Rehman Barq wrote on X that he would raise his “voice against the brutality committed by the police in the Parliament.”

Prashant Kumar, the state’s police chief, said the situation was under control in Sambhal, local Press Trust of India reported.

The Sambhal mosque is the only surviving Mughal building constructed during the time of Emperor Babar, as two others, one in Panipat is in ruins and another at Ayodhya was demolished by a mob in 1992. Mughals ruled much of the Indian subcontinent for more than 200 years.

In the recent past, right-wing elements in India have filed back-to-back petitions in courts, claiming that UNESCO-protected monuments and Mughal-era mosques are temples.