Pay Compensation to the Sambhal Victims’ Relatives – Adv. Sharfuddin Ahmed

Adv. Sharfuddin Ahmed, the National Vice President of SDPI demanded that the relatives of the victims in the Sambhal police firing be compensated Rs. 50 lakhs each, and the guilty officers are punished exemplarily. He was speaking at the Press Meet held at the Press Club, Delhi.

As we are celebrating Constitution Day, the tragic happenings in Sambhal town are a grim reminder of where our beloved country is heading. The killing of the Muslim youths in Sambhal in UP is highly shocking, condemnable, and unwarranted. If the police personnel had followed its own manual, the killing would not have occurred, said Sharfuddin.Claims on the ancient Masjids and monuments have become routine in the country, after the construction of the Ram Temple in the land of Babri Masjid, which was demolished by a fanatic right-wing extremist Hindutva mob on 6th December 1992.

The Places of Worship Act 1991 unambiguously prevents raising claims on places of worship constructed before 15th August 1947. Section 3 of the Act criminalises ‘conversion’ of a place of worship for one religion or sect into another. Section 4 declares that the character of a place of worship will be determined as it was on August 15th 1947.The full bench order in the Ram Janambhumi/Babri Masjid case, the provisions of the Places of Worship Act that the status of every place of worship in India shall be maintained by the status of the place of worship on 15th August 1947 have been judicially confirmed.The courts accept petitions claiming rights on places of worship, contradictory to the Act, and issue orders to survey the premises and underground of the buildings on which claims are raised by a certain group of people. The Sambhal tragedy resulted from such an order from the court.

The petitioners claiming the ownership of the Masjids use the loophole of an order of the Bench of Justice Chandrachud that the nature of worship may be examined as it is not barred by the provisions of the Act in a petition related to the case of Gyanvapi Masjid, to get survey orders from the courts, stated Sharfuddin Ahmad. In the context of the tragic Sambhal murder the Advocate, on behalf of SDPI demanded:• Compensation of Rs. 50 lakhs to the relatives of the dead youths.• Severe punishment for the officers who killed the youths. • An impartial judicial enquiry and • Intervention of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the lower courts issuing survey orders on Masjids, using the loophole in the order of the Bench of Justice Chandrachud in a petition related to the case of Gyanvapi Masjid that the nature of worship may be examined as it is not barred by the provisions of the Act and interpretation of this order in clear terms to prevent its misuse by fanatics aiming to create unrest in the country. SDPI Delhi State President I.A Khan, also was present at the Press Meet.