'I Love Muhammad' Row Escalates, 12 Arrested In UP's Bareilly, Clashes In Mau

Chaos erupted as police launched a lathicharge to counter reported stone pelting by protestors after Friday prayers in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, the latest stand-off in a row that began weeks ago over an 'I Love Muhammad' poster.

A huge crowd gathered near Bareilly's Islamia ground after Friday prayers in response to a call by Maulana Tauqeer Raza, local cleric and chief of Ittehad-e-Millat Council, to hold a demonstration in support of the 'I Love Muhammad' campaign. Similar such demonstrations have been held across the country after an FIR was lodged in Kanpur against 9 named and 15 unnamed persons after a tent with an 'I Love Muhammad' poster was removed by the police on September 4.

Soon after the Friday prayers, the crowd gathered amid heavy police presence. The crowd continued to swell as some allegedly raised objectionable slogans. After some protesters allegedly pelted stones at the police, the police launched a lathicharge to control the situation. After the crowd was dispersed, slippers, shoes, and stones were strewn about within a 200-metre radius of protest site. At least 12 people have been arrested in connection with the clashes.

Top officials are monitoring the situation and have directed authorities in Bareilly to take stern action against those disrupting normalcy. Bareilly Inspector General Ajay Sahni said 10 policemen were injured in the clashes with protesters. "The police was doing a flag march and told people to offer namaz and go home. Later, some in the crowd pelted stones and opened fire. Some weapons have been recovered. The attack seems to be a pre-planned conspiracy," he added.

Calling the lathicharge a sign of the government's weakness, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "Governments function with harmony and goodwill, not lathicharge. Highly condemnable!"

Similar Protests In Mau, Baghpat

Around 600 kilometres away, a similar situation unfolded as hundreds of people gathered in Mau after Friday prayers and led a procession while also chanting slogans. On being asked to return home, some from the crowd allegedly pelted stones. The police then resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd.

In Baghpat, a similar procession was being taken out. When it was stopped owing to a lack of permission for the march, an altercation ensued. The police registered cases against two named and 150 unknown persons.

How The 'I Love Muhammad Row' Started

The row began on September 4 during a Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi procession in Kanpur, when an 'I Love Muhammad' poster was put on a tent along the route. Local Hindu groups had objected to the lightboard, arguing that it was deliberately installed in a mixed neighbourhood where Hindu festivals like Ram Navami are traditionally celebrated.

Tensions rose as both communities accused each other of provocation -- Hindus alleging that their posters were damaged, and Muslims claiming they were targeted for merely expressing love for the Prophet. Soon, the issue was amplified by social media, with the hashtag #ILoveMuhammad trending widely.

Kanpur police registered cases against 24 people on September 9, citing the removal of the traditional tent and placing it at a new site. The police maintained that the FIR was against the practice of installing a tent on the road and not against the poster itself.

Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi weighed in on the controversy, saying, "If someone says, 'I Love You', then what's the problem? What's the problem with writing 'love'? What message do you want to send to Muslim countries around the world with this? What's the problem with "I Love Mahadev"? It should be done, it's their faith. This is a way of socially boycotting Muslims."

Protests Spread To Several States

In Mumbai's Malvani, clerics and religious leaders visited the local police station earlier this week to register concern over the Kanpur incident. They accused authorities of discriminating against Muslims by removing the posters and filing FIRs, while allowing Hindu groups to mount counter-campaigns.

On Thursday, a group of minority community members damaged several shops and vehicles and hurled stones at a village in Gujarat's Gandhinagar district following an objectionable social media post. Police detained around 60 persons for the clash and rioting that took place late Wednesday night. Four shops and five to six vehicles were damaged in the attack.

Posters with messages 'I love Mohammed' cropped up in Karnataka's Davangere on Tuesday night, leading to stone pelting between two groups of people, police sources told PTI.

Unrest was also reported in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao, Maharajganj, Lucknow and Kaushambi and several cases were filed.

"I Love Mahadev" Response

A counter-campaign emerged in Varanasi after weeks of the controversy, with religious leaders taking to the streets with placards reading "I Love Mahadev", in what they described as a response to allegedly "provocative" attempts to unsettle communal peace.

The demonstration, led by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Narendrananda, accused those behind the "I Love Muhammad" movement of trying to "destroy the country under the guise of devotion". He and other leaders alleged that conspiracies were being hatched to destabilise governments and divide society.