A month after five Muslim youths including a minor was allegedly shot dead by the Uttar Pradesh police in Sambhal, a ceremonial ‘bhumi pujan’ was performed on Saturday for a police outpost near the Shahi Jama Masjid. Officials claimed that the outpost was planned in the wake of the violence that ensued on the morning of November 24, during a court ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in the Kot Purvi neighbourhood. The outpost will function under the Sambhal police station. “The ‘bhumi pujan (land worship)’ and foundation stone-laying ceremony were carried out following all prescribed rituals. Additionally, measures were taken to ensure the absence of ‘vastu dosh (architectural defects)’ in the construction,” said Shobhit Shastri, the priest conducting the ritual.Additional Superintendent of Police Shriish Chandra told reporters, “The ‘bhumi pujan’ for the new police outpost near the Shahi Jama Masjid was completed. This outpost is being established from a security perspective. Sufficient police personnel are already deployed here, and there was a long-standing demand from locals for a permanent outpost.” In a related development, the Sambhal administration on December 15, reopened a temple that has remained locked since 1978, in the vicinity of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Weeks into the killings, the administration also demolished several houses in the area belonging to Muslims accusing them of being built on “encroached land.”According to District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya, the district administration is working on rediscovering and restoring historical wells and pilgrimage sites across the region. “Sambhal is known to have 19 wells, 36 settlements, 52 inns and 68 pilgrimage sites, collectively constituting 87 religious and historical locations. Of these, we have successfully located 32 pilgrimage sites and all 19 wells,” he said.
Source link
