On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), and Priyanka Gandhi, the General Secretary of the Congress, were halted at the Delhi-Meerut Expressway’s Ghazipur border on their route to the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh (UP), which is rife with violence.
Police officers on the border stopped the Congress MPs, who were joined by numerous party leaders and employees, citing the state of law and order in Sambhal.
Nearly two weeks after unrest broke out in the town of Western Uttar Pradesh due to the survey of the Jama Masjid mosque, the Gandhi siblings are scheduled to visit.
Five youngsters were killed in the violence that erupted during the mosque survey, and the deteriorating law and order situation led opposition parties to point firearms at the Yogi Adityanath government.
Following the arrest of the Congress convoy on the border with Ghazipur, Congress MPs have now requested permission from the police to send a small delegation of the party to the town to speak with the relatives of those affected by the violence.
Notably, following the events on November 24, Sambhal has been under increased police watch.
To prevent any further escalation of violence, prohibition orders have been implemented and “outsiders” have been prohibited from entering the town until December 10.
A group from the Samajwadi Party was also prevented from visiting the town earlier.
The Mughal-era mosque is in the center of a legal dispute because petitioners assert that there was once a Hindu temple on the mosque’s location.
A sizable crowd made up of members of the minority community attacked and stoned the police and survey team after the court ordered an ASI survey of the mosque to determine the “truth.”
The UP government was criticized by senior Congress leader K C Venugopal for halting the Gandhi siblings’ journey to Sambhal.
Venugopal wrote on X , “It is basic humanity to stand by someone who has suffered such grief and loss. Rahul ji’s motto has been ‘Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan’. And when the ruling regime has created an atmosphere of hatred, it is our duty as the Opposition to bring compassion, empathy and love”.
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