The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has received a 450-page judicial report on the November 2024 violence in Sambhal district. The report, prepared by a special judicial commission, has made some disturbing revelations about the district’s changing demography, past communal riots, and targeted attacks on Hindus.
According to the report, Sambhal is no longer just a communally sensitive district but has also become a base for extremist activities and terror networks. The commission has pointed to the declining Hindu population, systematic targeting of Hindu families through what has been described as “love jihad,” and attempts to intimidate Hindus into migrating out of the area.
Love Jihad and targeted humiliation of Hindu families
One of the most shocking aspects of the judicial commission’s findings relates to the targeting of Hindu girls through love jihad. The report carries testimonies of families who lost their daughters to such incidents.
One such case is of Kishan Lal’s daughter, Bharti, who was once deeply religious and devoted to Hindu customs. She used to fast, voice the Neelkanth on Diwali, did not even eat onion-garlic and sew clothes for the idols of the temple with her hands. But in 2013-14, she came in contact with a Turkish youth named Hammad from Sambhal while studying outside the district.
Eventually, she converted to Islam, married Hammad, and became Sidra. Her family said that after the marriage, they not only lost their daughter but were also humiliated when Hammad’s family organised a grand Walima (wedding feast). According to witnesses, such feasts were often used as a show of power to “humiliate Hindus” and force them to migrate.
Bharti stated in favour of her husband, Hammad
The Bharti-Hammad case was also taken to the Allahabad High Court, but when the girl supported her husband in her statement, the court ruled in his favour. The family lost the case and described it as the ‘biggest blow’ of their lives.
The commission records how the mother of the girl fell into deep depression after the marriage and has been unwell for over a decade. The family told investigators that their daughter had once even called them in tears, pleading for help, but fear of threats and social pressure stopped them from intervening.
Today, Bharti, or Sidra, delivers religious lectures in madrasas, while her husband struggles with odd jobs and runs a boutique from home. The family says the emotional wound from the incident has never healed.
Well-planned conspiracy, says commission
The judicial panel has concluded that incidents like these were not isolated but part of a larger, well-planned conspiracy. It is said that by such marriages, Hindu families were knowingly insulted in public and forced out of their homes, which added to the demographic transformation of Sambhal.
The report also connects these attacks to the larger Ghazwa-e-Hind narrative, advocated by radical groups as a part of their grand scheme. Targeting Hindu girls and families was one means of instilling fear among Hindus and weakening the Hindu community in the district, as per the panel.
Hindu population declining sharply in Sambhal
One of the most important points in the report is about demographic changes in Sambhal. At the time of independence, the Hindu population in the Sambhal Nagar Palika area was around 45%, while Muslims made up about 55%.
All this while, the balance has shifted dramatically. Now, the report adds, Hindus are left with 15% of the population only, with Muslims increasing to nearly 85%. This population change, the commission observes, is not only because of migration but also due to persistent pressure and repeated episodes of violence that prompted Hindus to abandon their homes.
The decline has been consistent. The report informs that Hindus who earlier inhabited in large numbers in several localities are now only present in isolated pockets, and most mohallas, earlier mixed colonies have become fully Muslim-dominated localities. The trend, says the panel, has transformed the social texture of Sambhal and intensified tensions.
15 big riots after independence
The judicial commission also examined the history of riots in Sambhal. The report stated that a total of 15 riots took place in Sambhal since independence.
These riots occurred in 1947, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1962, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2001, and 2019. The report also revealed that the Muslim-dominated Sambhal district has become a base for several terrorist outfits.
Sambhal violence of 2024: Hindus targeted again
The November 2024 violence in Sambhal was no different. The commission has clearly stated that Hindus were the primary target. However, unlike in previous incidents, a large-scale tragedy was prevented because of heavy police presence in Hindu-majority areas.
The report claims that mobs had plans to attack Hindus directly, but the conspiracy failed when security forces were deployed in time. Even so, the violence revealed how deeply radical groups have penetrated Sambhal and how local networks had been mobilised for such attacks.
Rise of terror networks in Sambhal
The judicial report has also highlighted the presence of terrorist modules in the district. It identifies that Sambhal, over time, has emerged as a fertile terrain for the recruitment of young men into terrorist groups active in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other places.
According to the report, some youths from Sambhal were brainwashed and recruited into notorious terrorist organisations. These include Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Tehreek-e-Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Hizbul Mujahideen, IS, etc. Apart from this, the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI also succeeded in building its network in Sambhal.
The commission further observed that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI had been able to set up a chain in Sambhal, capitalising on the unstable communal environment. The network, the report said, not only offered logistic assistance but also endeavoured to disseminate radical ideologies.