Samhhal Mosque News: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has filed its reply in the court allowing the survey of Shahi Jama Masjid here, in which the ASI has requested to hand over the control and management of the Mughal-era mosque, calling it a protected heritage structure. Advocate Vishnu Sharma, representing the ASI, said on Sunday that the ASI has filed its reply on Friday, stating that it had to face resistance from the mosque's management committee and local residents in surveying the site.

He said that the reply also mentions an incident of January 19, 2018, when a case was registered against the mosque's management committee for arbitrarily installing steel railings on the stairs of the mosque. Sharma said that Shahi Jama Masjid, notified as a protected site of the ASI since the year 1920, is under the jurisdiction of the ASI. Therefore, people should be allowed to enter the mosque following the rules of the ASI.

The ASI has the right to make changes.
The ASI argues that the control and management of the building and the right to make any structural changes should remain with the ASI. Sharma said that the ASI also expressed concern that the unauthorized changes made to the structure of the mosque by the management committee are illegal and should be stopped. The court is expected to discuss this matter in the coming days. On November 24, violence broke out in Sambhal when the Advocate Commissioner was surveying the Shahi Jama Masjid on the orders of the local court, in which four people were killed.

The order to complete the investigation in two months
was given after hearing a petition, which claimed that there used to be a Harihar temple at the mosque site. A three-member judicial commission has been formed to investigate the violence and its members are expected to come to Sambhal on Sunday. The commission has been directed to complete the investigation in two months. Government approval will be required to extend this time limit. Two members of the commission had reached Moradabad on Saturday itself.

What did Moradabad Commissioner Anjaneya Kumar say?
Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Anjaneya Kumar Singh had said, 'Two members of the commission constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government reached here on Saturday. The third member will join them on Sunday. However, Singh did not reveal the names of the members who reached Moradabad on Saturday. The commission headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Devendra Kumar Arora has former IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad and retired IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain as other members.

According to official sources, the commission will investigate whether the violent clashes on November 24 happened on their own or were part of a well-planned criminal conspiracy. Along with this, the preparations of the police and administration in handling the situation will also be investigated. The commission will also analyze the circumstances responsible for the violence and recommend measures to prevent such incidents in future.