The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was disrupted on Tuesday by members of the Samajwadi Party (SP) protesting the vandalisation of the Fatehpur mausoleum. The SP members stormed the well of the House, shouting slogans in front of the speaker's chair after the government responded to the issue.
The incident occurred on Monday night when right-wing groups allegedly stormed the mausoleum, damaging graves and claiming the site was a Hindu temple. They demanded permission to offer prayers there. In response, police have heightened security at the mausoleum, with the area now under drone surveillance and additional police from neighbouring districts deployed.
Leader of the Opposition, Mata Prasad Pandey, brought the matter to the House's attention after Question Hour. He claimed that despite warnings about potential unrest, adequate security measures had not been put in place. Pandey noted that the leader of a particular organisation had declared a week earlier that the mausoleum belonged to Hindus. Although police had set up barricades, he alleged that the lack of sufficient security allowed the mob to storm the site.
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Pandey alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party government is trying to disturb communal harmony. There is a trend of demolishing Muslim madrassas and mausoleums so that communal harmony is disturbed and their one-sided politics can continue. He asked the government to clarify its stand on this issue.
Responding to the Opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said, "The government has no connection with this matter in any way." Those trying to take the law into their hands will be punished, he added.
An FIR was registered against 10 named and 150 unnamed people at Fatehpur police station on the evening of August 11, he said.
Pandey then questioned why the BJP’s Fatehpur unit chief was not named in the FIR. This prompted the SP members to enter the well of the House and begin protesting. Speaker Satish Mahana told the members that their question had been answered, but the protesting members were not prepared to allow the House to function. Mahana remarked that he was ready to close the House if they were not willing to let it run.
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