Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met the victims of Sambhal violence, days after a party delegation had to return as they were stopped by Uttar Pradesh Police at Ghazipur border.
The victims met the leader of opposition as well as newly elected Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi at 10 Janpath in Delhi.
“Rahul ji heard them very well and said that he is always standing with them if they face any issues,”reported ANI quoting party MP Imran Masood.
On December 4, the opposition party’s leaders returned to Delhi after staying at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for about two hours, failing to proceed onwards as prohibitory orders were in place in Sambhal following the violence on November 24 over a court-ordered mosque survey in which four people died, and several others were injured.
Rahul and Priyanka stopped from entering Sambhal last week
Last week, Rahul and Priyanka were prevented from entering Sambhal and stopped at the Delhi-UP border.
As authorities stopped him, Rahul Gandhi said, “We are trying to go to Sambhal, the police is refusing, they are not allowing us. As LoP, it is my right to go, but they are stopping me. I am ready to go alone, I am ready to go with the police, but they did not accept that too. They are saying that if we come back in a few days then they will let us go. This is against the rights of the LoP and against the Constitution. We just want to go to Sambhal and see what happened there, we want to meet the people. My constitutional right is not being given to me. This is the new India, this is the India to end the Constitution. This is the India to end Ambedkar’s Constitution. We will keep fighting”
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “Whatever happened in Sambhal is wrong. Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the opposition, he has constitutional rights and he cannot be stopped like this. He has the constitutional right to be allowed to go and meet the victims. He also said that he would go alone with the UP police but they are not ready to do that either. The police have no answer. Maybe the situation in Uttar Pradesh is such that they cannot handle even this much. Why do they say so arrogantly that they have taken care of the law and order?” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi returned to Delhi after being stopped at Ghazipur border from visiting Sambhal.
Violence broke out in Sambhal district on November 24 during an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) inspection of a Mughal-era mosque. The clashes left four people dead and several police officers and locals injured. The ASI survey was conducted following a petition filed in a local court, alleging that the mosque was built on the site of an ancient Harihar temple.
