A FULL report of the three-member panel on the violence in Sambhal in the BJP-ruled state of Uttar Pradesh last November was submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday (28 August). However, the findings have not yet been made public. Excerpts from the report, though, clearly reveal its tilt and brazen bias. In the academic world, this practice is considered propaganda—a method of distorting facts, stirring emotions, and pushing a particular narrative to influence and poison public perception.
Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky have done significant work on this phenomenon. According to them, media and government bodies sometimes deploy propaganda to serve the interests of powerful groups. They filter information through carefully designed techniques. These filters typically operate in five ways: ownership, advertising, sources, criticism, and the construction of an enemy image. Together, these elements work to target specific groups.
In the Indian context, such tactics are often used to deepen divisions between Hindus and Muslims, as seen in the Sambhal incident. A clear example of this pattern can be found in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. At that time, a disturbing video from Multan, Pakistan, was circulated widely. It was falsely claimed that the footage showed Muslims in Muzaffarnagar attacking Hindus. In reality, the video had nothing to do with India — it was repurposed to inflame tensions and provoke communal violence.
According to reports by The Wire and Al Jazeera, local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) played an important role in spreading this false narrative. The incident not only fuelled bloodshed in Muzaffarnagar but also gave political advantage to the BJP, because it further deepened the Hindu-Muslim divide.
There is now an attempt to steer the Sambhal incident in exactly the same direction. The report conveniently sidesteps the core issue of the current conflict and instead dwells on past riots and other attacks. It appears to be the handiwork of someone trained in an RSS shakha — rather than that of a retired judge, retired top bureaucrat and a retired senior police officer — hell-bent on portraying Muslims as rioters, cruel, oppressive, and unclean. It seems more like the work of Hindutva writers and self-styled historians of yesteryears, such as Dina Nath Batra, Prashant Nagesh Oak, KM Munshi, RC Majumdar, and Dr Bhagwan Singh, who worked hard for years to foster anti-Muslim fervour in the country.
In an environment where even Supreme Court judges have compromised principles and sacrificed personal and institutional dignity for post-retirement incentives offered by the Hindutva government, it is hardly surprising that the authors of the report have stooped so low.
According to The Hindu and other reliable sources, this is a “secret report” presented only to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Even so, BJP sources have circulated its contents through a “leak.” Perhaps for this reason, opposition members are calling it a political move. In particular, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress have strongly criticized it. According to The Week, SP and Congress have challenged these BJP claims, calling the report a well-crafted ploy to spread anti-Muslim hatred. They have also questioned why the report, if genuine, has not been made public.
Even at a casual glance at the “leaked” contents, its strong anti-Muslim bias immediately stands out. For example, it claims that at the time of independence, Hindus made up 45% and Muslims 55% of Sambhal Nagar Palika, whereas now, according to the report, Hindus are 15% and Muslims 85%. However, according to the 2011 Census, Sambhal city (Nagar Palika) had a total population of 220,813, with Hindus making up 22% (48,581) and Muslims 77.67% (171,483). The report’s claim of 15% Hindus is therefore an exaggeration; the real figure is 22%, which is due to natural population growth and migration, not riots. In Sambhal district, the Muslim population is about 57–60%, and Hindus about 40–43%. Linking this change to riots is nothing but mischief, because migration typically happens for economic reasons (such as job opportunities), not religious ones.
According to Pew Research, the Muslim population in India grew from 9.8% in 1951 to 14.2% in 2011, primarily due to natural birth rates. The claim in the report that the “situation changed” once the Hindu population fell below 40% is a fabricated division with no historical basis. As The Print notes, the intensity of riots in Sambhal has actually decreased, while new forms of violence, such as lynching, have emerged — unrelated to demographic shifts.
Historically, specific population figures for Sambhal town are not available in the 1941 and 1951 censuses. However, the 1951 census of Moradabad district (which then included Sambhal) indicates that the proportion of Muslims in the area was lower. The report in question alleges that people were forcibly converted to another religion, and that Turk and Pathan Muslims enslaved and subjugated local “new-Pathan” Muslims. There is no evidence for such claims in any credible historical source or academic research. Within the local Muslim community, there is also no concept of division based on ethnicity or on being a “new Muslim.”
The report further claims that after independence, there were 15 riots in Sambhal in which 213 people were killed — 209 of them allegedly Hindus. However, Wikipedia’s List of riots in India mentions only a few major riots in Sambhal, such as those in 1978 and 1992. Some websites, like OpIndia, do mention 15 riots, but these are propaganda outlets linked to the BJP and cannot be considered reliable. In reality, according to official data and neutral sources such as the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and Uttar Pradesh government records, the number of riots in Sambhal does not exceed five or six. The report’s inflated figures are therefore a historical distortion, aimed at defaming Muslims.
For instance, take the Holi riots of 29 March 1978. The alleged number of deaths cited in the report does not appear in any credible official record or academic study. According to The Print, the roots of the 1976 and 1978 riots were political rather than religious. Yet the report falsely frames them as part of a “Muslim conspiracy.” In reality, most riots escalated due to the abject failure of the police and administration. A recent example is highlighted in a 2024 Al Jazeera report, which makes the same point. During the 1978 riot, CNBC TV18 claimed that people were burned alive, but there is no credible evidence supporting the claim that 184 Hindus were killed. The crucial fact is that in these riots, people from both communities suffered and lost their lives.
The report claims that on 24 November 2024, Muslims engaged in violence during a survey at the Shahi Jama Masjid, stating that four people were killed and foreign weapons were recovered. However, according to local sources and The Hindu, the actual incident was different. The violence began when the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was conducting a survey under a court order, and people were protesting against it. During the protests, the police opened fire unnecessarily, resulting in the deaths of five people. The ASI clearly stated in its official report that no deaths occurred during the survey.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also stated that this was a conspiracy to cover up BJP’s election fraud. The report further claims that foreign weapons from the UK, USA, and Germany were used, but there is no evidence to support this.
Additionally, the report alleges that on 22 November 2024, Member of Parliament Ziaur Rahman Barq delivered an inflammatory speech at the Jama Masjid, saying, “We are the owners of this country, not servants or slaves.” This accusation is also false. Multiple media outlets, including Zee Salaam and ETV Bharat, reported that Barq denied making this statement, asserting that he believes in the Constitution, not in violence. Telangana Today and The Hindustan Times also rejected the claim regarding his speech.
The fact is that the violence on 24 November began during protests against the ASI survey. Police firing resulted in four to five deaths. However, the report distorted the narrative and falsely blamed Barq, MLA Nawab Iqbal Mahmood’s son Suhail Iqbal, and the Jama Masjid administration for the riots.
The report claims that there is a network of terrorist organisations, such as Al-Qaeda and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, in Sambhal. However, investigations revealed that there is no mention of this in any report by the Uttar Pradesh Police or the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The report also accuses Sharq Satha of having links with the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, being involved in the fake currency business, and claims that foreign weapons used in riots carried the US seal. Some newspapers, including The Times of India and Free Press Journal, published these stories, but these sources are pro-government and lack independent verification. In contrast, websites like Hindustan Samachar and Organiser regularly spread such fabricated stories, which are purely conspiratorial.
The report also distorts historical facts about Harhar Mandir. It claims the temple is linked to the Mughal emperor Babur, even though historical evidence shows it is an ancient Hindu temple with no connection to him. This clearly demonstrates that the report uses history for political gains. Furthermore, it claims that in Sambhal, 68 pilgrimage sites (teerth sthals) and 19 ponds have been “occupied,” and that Chief Minister Adityanath laid the foundation for their restoration on 30 May 2025. In reality, this is part of a recent anti-encroachment campaign, which has primarily targeted Muslim settlements. According to Hindustan Times and Outlook, these “discoveries” were made during surveys by the Archaeological Department and the anti-encroachment drive, but they caused major controversy, as the claims heightened communal tensions. The Wire criticised this, noting that the “restoration” of temples in Muslim areas is being used as a political weapon. The truth is that these sites have existed for centuries, but the narrative of “occupation” is part of the BJP’s Hindu revival politics, as seen in the Babri Masjid case. Frontline has described all of this as part of a planned campaign.
The report also states that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) prepared a charge sheet of 4,000 pages, naming 159 accused individuals. However, according to official sources from the Uttar Pradesh Police, initial investigations registered cases against only 80 to 90 people, not 159. This clearly shows that the numbers were exaggerated to place more blame on Muslims. While the police did register cases against some individuals, The New Indian Express and The Hindu report that this is actually an attempt to target the opposition. The Indian Express and The New Indian Express also noted that the report specifically highlighted population structures and demographic changes, but this is all propaganda. The opposition has criticised this, stating that the government presents it as a “bitter truth,” while its real purpose is to defame a particular community.
The three-member panel was headed by retired Judge Dev Nand Kumar Arora, former DGP A. Jain, and former IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad, all of whom were appointed by the BJP government. Therefore, it is clear that the report is not impartial. The UP government formed this commission immediately after the riots to create an anti-Muslim narrative. According to Hindus for Human Rights, this incident is an example of how history is used as a weapon. The BJP has previously used such reports to incite unrest and communal hatred in society. The tone of this report clearly shows that its primary purpose is to defame Muslims and create a “Hindu versus Muslim” atmosphere. The claims it makes — regarding demographic changes, the number of riots, political accusations, international conspiracies, or narratives about the new Muslim Pathans — are all exaggerated and fabricated.
Based on this, it would not be wrong to assert that the entire text concerning Sambhal’s demography, riots, and alleged conspiracies is full of lies and propaganda. The narrative appears to have been prepared to promote the BJP’s anti-Muslim politics. The figures, historical claims, and conspiracy stories it contains are all contrary to reliable sources and authentic evidence. Political observers have rightly stated that the “report” is not actually a public document; it is a secret paper that was never officially released. Its so-called “revelations” were leaked through BJP sources to fuel hatred and division in society.
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Mohammad Alamullah is UK-based author and journalist. He did his PhD from Dr KR Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia and has written two books, Muslim Majlis Mushawarat: Ek Khususi Tareekh and Kuch Din Iran Mein. The views expressed here are author’s personal.
