Breaking his silence on the recent violence in Sambhal, Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq, who has been named in the FIR, and allegedly accused of inciting violence criticized the police on Wednesday. He has accused the administration of attempting to cover up their negligence by implicating his name.

Barq told ANI in a statement, “Police have mentioned my name in the report to hide the truth, to hide their negligence and that I cannot help my people. I will keep raising my voice for my people to get them their rights and justice.”

Barq even promised to pursue justice through legal means, stating, “Whatever legal battle will be there, it will be fought with full strength and we will fight this battle till the time these police administration officials who are involved in this murder are not punished. We will not sit silent till their names are mentioned.”

Barq held the Police and administration responsible for the incident in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. “They wanted to incite riots on the first day itself, but we were present and handled the situation. We handled the situation on the day of the riots too, but the police administration took advantage of my absence and incited the riots and killed our people,” Barq added.

Security personnel remained stationed in Sambhal for the third consecutive day  after violence and unrest ensued over an ASI survey at Shahi Jama Masjid. Vehicles were set on fire after stone pelting erupted in Sambhal on November 24. The clash broke out when a survey team arrived at Sambhal Mosque to conduct a survey. Authorities have reportedly registered seven FIRs against more than 2,500 people, including Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia-ur-Rahman Barq and Sohail, the son of MLA Iqbal Mahmood. 

According to the FIR filed by local police, they were reportedly made provocative statements to instigate people before violence broke out over the survey of a mosque.