Explained: Why Yogi Adityanath govt wants to reinvestigate 1978 Sambhal riots

In 1978, the worst riots in Sambhal’s history broke out leaving nine dead according to the official version, which is now being questioned, after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that hundreds of Hindus were burned alive in the violence.

Though the police have denied any formal re-investigation of the riot, the Uttar Pradesh CM, during the winter session of the state legislature drew attention to them, blaming the opposition of selective memory.

The opposition had hammered the Sambhal issue, where violence broke out on November 24 last year as a team reached to survey the 500-year-old Jama Masjid, the nature of which is now being disputed. Five people died and dozens were injured while Sambhal has remained in the news as, among other discoveries, a step well has been found in a house which is set to be demolished.

In 1978, violence erupted on March 29, after news broke out that a Hindu man had murdered a cleric. Shops and houses were burned in the mayhem that followed and a two-month curfew was imposed. Over three dozen Hindu families had also left Sambhal after that.

A relook at the investigation into the riots seeks, among other things, to assess the actual death toll, identification of unnamed victims, examining if there were any lapses in the investigation, and if people’s names were taken out of FIRs under any influence.

However, before there can be a new investigation, the administration has to find the original inquiry report, which it has been asked to submit to the state’s home department. This report has not been found as yet.

Among the key questions that this original report will answer is how were all 82 people against whom cases were filed, let off by the courts. Was this because the government took back the cases or that all accused, witnesses and victims were dead. The search at the district court has also not yielded any records yet.