LucknowAugust 28, 2025 11:57 PM IST First published on: Aug 28, 2025 at 11:54 PM ISTTHE three-member judicial commission formed last year to probe the violence in Sambhal, that left four dead and several injured, submitted its report to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday – setting off speculation that its contents talked of a “demographic shift”.Officials said the contents of the 400-page report would remain “confidential” until it was first placed before the state Cabinet and then the Assembly. “The judicial commission report has been submitted. It would be studied and action taken accordingly,” Principal Secretary, Home, Sanjay Prasad said.AdvertisementThe Opposition questioned media reports on what the report contained even before it had been tabled in the Assembly. Congress state president Ajay Rai told The Indian Express, “It is a confidential report but its contents are being discussed… It is nothing but a mechanism of the ruling party to divert attention from the significant issue to again create divide in society. Youngsters are looking for employment, farmers are troubled and all they are trying to highlight is Hindu-Muslim.”BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said the Opposition could not turn a blind eye to the fact that “demographic change is a bitter truth”. “There are over 100 such districts across the country (seeing demographic change) and many districts besides Sambhal facing an exodus of Hindus. We are hopeful that based on this report, the government will come out with a policy to not just stop such exodus but also bring back those who have left because of a planned conspiracy against Hindus.”The judicial commission, which looked into the violence that erupted near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on November 24 last year during an ASI-monitored survey of the mosque, was headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Devendra Kumar Arora and included retired IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain and ex-IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad.AdvertisementSources said the report talks of riots, violence and appeasement policies leading to a decline in the population of Hindus in Sambhal, and identifies a speech by Samajwadi Party MP Zia ur Rehman Barq at the Jama Masjid as one of the triggers of the violence.As per sources, the report says that apart from Hindus vs Muslims, the region had also seen clashes between “foreign Muslims” i.e. Turks and “converted Hindus” i.e. Pathans in the region. The commission reportedly lists 15 riots between 1936 and 2019 in Sambhal, leading to 200-plus deaths.Sources said the report also talks of several pilgrimage sites and wells being encroached over time, and the role played by a gang leader, who dealt in fake currency. It reportedly says that many of the weapons used during last year’s violence were foreign-manufactured, most of them in the US.Panel member and former DGP Jain told PTI that their report was “voluminous”. He refused to comment on the commission’s findings, calling them “confidential”.The Sambhal dispute dates back to November 19 last year, when Hindu petitioners filed a suit in the Sambhal district court claiming the Shahi Jama Masjid was built over a temple back in the 16th century.most readA court-ordered survey was conducted on the same day, followed by another on November 24. The second survey triggered unrest in the area, resulting in the death of four persons and injuries to 29 policemen.Police booked MP Barq and mosque committee head Zafar Ali in connection with the violence, besides registering an FIR against 2,750 unidentified persons.During a drive carried out later, the government claimed to have found that 68 pilgrim sites and 19 sacred wells had been illegally encroached in the area, and had been cleared.