The Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress sharply criticized BJP leaders for claiming that a judicial commission report on the November 2024 Sambhal violence highlights a “demographic shift,” questioning how a “confidential” document’s contents were known to them. The opposition accused the BJP of orchestrating the report to fuel Hindu-Muslim tensions ahead of its submission to the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet and Assembly.

SP MP Anand Bhadauria, while refraining from commenting on the report’s confidential contents, challenged BJP leaders’ claims about a Hindu population decline in Sambhal from 45% in 1947 to 15-20% today. “How can a confidential report be known to BJP leaders? It seems they themselves got it written,” Bhadauria told PTI. State Congress president Ajay Rai echoed this, condemning the BJP for “spreading Hindu-Muslim hatred” and demanding action against those leaking the report. “If it’s confidential, how is it leaked?” Rai asked, alleging a planned conspiracy.

The 450-page report, submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday by a panel led by retired Allahabad High Court judge Devendra Kumar Arora, alongside former IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain and ex-IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad, details the violence near Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24, 2024, during an ASI survey.

The clashes, sparked by a court-ordered mosque survey over claims it was built on a temple, left four dead and injured 29 policemen. The panel, formed on November 28, 2024, documented 15 riots in Sambhal since Independence, but members refused to confirm claims of a demographic shift, calling the report “confidential.”

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BJP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal and spokesman Rakesh Tripathi, expressed confidence that the report highlights a Hindu exodus due to targeted communal riots, claiming the Hindu population dropped from 45% to 15-20% due to “planned riots and appeasement politics.” The opposition, however, accused the BJP of politicizing the issue. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav previously called the violence a “BJP-orchestrated conspiracy” to divert attention from electoral malpractice, while Congress labeled it “state-sponsored.”

The report’s findings, still under review, have intensified political tensions, with the opposition demanding transparency and accountability, while the BJP leverages the narrative to underscore security concerns tied to demographic changes.

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