Tension in Shahjahanpur village over land for ‘religious’ activities

Shamli/Bareilly: Tension gripped Sihora village, under Sindhauli police station of Shahjahanpur district, on Wednesday night after two groups belonging to different communities gathered to claim the same piece of community land for religious activities. Members of one community claim that there is a mazar at the site, while the other side insists that a Shivling is at the place.Some elders said people have been worshipping goddess Durga in this community plot since long.
On Thursday morning, a large crowd of people gathered, broke the boundary wall at the place and worshipped the Shivling. Officials managed to calm the situation and sent the crowd back. Heavy police force has been deployed to prevent any untoward situation. Sources said police and the district administration are trying to talk to members of both the communities to resolve the issue peacefully.
Additional SP Manoj Kumar Awasthi said the issue has been simmering for the past one-and-a-half years.
Meva Ram, the priest who stays at the site, claimed that a Shivling was earlier placed and worshipped on the disputed land, and that the local administration was aware of it. Ram accused members of the other community of attempting to remove the Shivling on Wednesday night. "When we tried to resist their attempt, we were attacked," said the priest.
Meanwhile, representative of the other side, Mohammed Riyazuddin, said they would take the matter to court.