Section of lawyers in Sambhal strike work to protest arrest of mosque body chief
Sambhal (UP): A section of lawyers in the Sambhal district observed a one-day pen-down strike on Monday to protest the arrest of Zafar Ali, president of the Jama Masjid Management Committee. According to police, Ali, a "senior lawyer", was arrested on Sunday in connection with the violence that took place on November 24 last year. However, a section of lawyers alleged that his arrest was an attempt to prevent him from testifying before a judicial commission investigating the incident.
The Uttar Pradesh government has set up a three-member judicial commission to probe the violence. Mohammad Nazar Qureshi, president of the Chandousi District Court Bar Association in Sambhal, told PTI, "All courts in Sambhal, Chandousi and Gunnaur remained closed today as part of the strike." He alleged Ali had been falsely implicated by the police. "There was no FIR against him, yet he was sent to jail under unidentified charges. This is a wrongful act by the police," Qureshi said. "We strongly oppose this action and will soon decide on our next course of action against the police administration," he said. Senior lawyer Shakeel Ahmed from the Civil Judge Court also criticised Ali's arrest.
"Zafar Ali is a senior counsel and his arrest by the police is entirely unjustified. If such police actions continue, this situation will escalate not just in the district but across the entire state and country," he said. Ahmed claimed that lawyers across UP were standing in solidarity with Ali. "He was supposed to testify before the judicial commission in Lucknow today. The police arrested him to prevent that," he said. Senior advocate Abdur Rahman also accused the police of taking punitive action against Ali. "The police are trying to suppress the fact that they used private weapons against civilians in Sambhal during the violence. This arrest is part of their cover-up," he said. The lawyers announced that they would hold a meeting in the evening to decide on further action, including the possibility of a state-wide strike. Violence had erupted during a court-ordered survey at the Shahi Jama Masjid in the Kot Garvi area of the city on November 24 last year leading to the death of four civilians and injuries to several others, including security personnel. The court had ordered the survey while hearing a petition that claimed the mosque stood at the site of a Hindu temple demolished in the Mughal regime. Sambhal has been simmering on communal lines since then.
