Tensions Flare Over Mosque Survey: Supreme Court to Intervene

The Supreme Court is set to hear a petition challenging a district court's order for a survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. The petition seeks to halt proceedings, citing communal tensions and the expedited manner of the survey, which allegedly compromises India's secular fabric.

The Supreme Court is poised to hear a crucial petition on Friday, challenging a district court's directive to conduct a survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. The apex court, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, will address the matter brought forward by the Committee of Management, Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal, as shown in the court's cause list.

The petitioners have requested an ex-parte stay on the district court's November 19 order, which hastily approved and executed the survey, spurring significant communal unrest and threatening the nation's secular fabric. Tensions escalated in Sambhal when the survey was conducted, fulfilling claims of a past Harihar temple at the mosque's site.

Following the survey, violence erupted on November 24, resulting in clashes with security forces, stone-pelting, and arson, leaving four dead and several injured. The petition claims such surveys risk igniting communal tension, disrupting law and order, and damaging India's secular framework. The plea urges the Supreme Court to prevent surveys without comprehensive deliberations among concerned parties and adequate time for seeking legal recourse.

(With inputs from agencies.)