Muslims around the world celebrated the 1500th birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) on September 6. This year’s festivities for the 12th of Rabiul Awwal — the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar — gained greater prominence due to the milestone of 15 centuries having passed since the Holy Prophet’s birth.
India, with the world’s third-largest Muslim population, also saw the day being observed in areas with Muslim residents, such as the city of Kanpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh. And it is here, where the sequence of events began that subsequently triggered “crackdowns, FIRs (first information reports), detentions, arrests, internet shutdowns, political sparring and a wave of protests” from UP, Uttarakhand, Gujarat to Maharashtra, according to Indian media outlet The Wire.
The Frontline reported that Zafar Wali Gali, a lane in Syed Nagar in Kanpur’s Rawatpur area, was decorated for Eid-i-Miladun Nabi on Sept 4 and a lightboard with the slogan, “I Love Muhammad”, was installed at the entrance to the street.
Indian media outlets reported that the installation stoked tensions between the Muslim and Hindu communities, with some people from the latter objecting to the lightboard’s installation at the entrance due to it being a “new tradition”.
Police were subsequently deployed as tensions increased and the lightboard was eventually taken down and moved elsewhere.
Police alleged that unknown youngsters tore down Hindu posters on the path of a Muslim procession on Sept 5, but the event culminated peacefully without incident.
However, “on Sept 9, acting on a complaint by Sub-Inspector Pankaj Sharma, the local police lodged FIRs against 24 individuals for allegedly disturbing communal harmony,” Frontline reported, adding that the police said the cases did not target the slogan but the alleged attempts to disturb communal peace by installing tents and banners at a non-traditional location on a route traditionally used for Ram Navami processions.
The Kanpur police claimed the case was registered only after a review of the CCTV footage “confirmed deliberate acts intended to disturb communal harmony”, The Wire reported.
One of the individuals nominated in the FIR was quoted as saying by the outlet: “Police are harassing us. Why are they not showing videos, photos, or CCTV footage of us tearing any Hindu banners? Nothing unlawful happened, and many of the named accused were not even present there in procession.
“Last year, we displayed the same message on a cloth banner, and no one raised objections. This year, we used a light board, and suddenly, people started protesting. I don’t understand why.”
Another local booked by police, a prayer leader, expressed his befuddlement to the outlet, saying he was approached by the police during the communal negotiations and he did not understand why he was nominated in the case. “This FIR is completely baseless and fake, no Hindu religious posters were torn,” he told the outlet.
Free Press Kashmir reported that the issue gained increased attention when All India Majlis-i-Ittehadul Muslimeen President and lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi chief Asaduddin Owaisi said in a post on X on Sept 15, “I love Muhammad”, adding that doing so was not a crime and tagging the Kanpur police directly.
“His post triggered more debate and drew national focus to the incident,” the outlet reported, adding that the slogan soon spread to other districts and states, including Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Telangana.
According to The Wire, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) documented nationwide cases and arrests related to the row, with the association recording at least 21 FIRs naming 1,324 people and resulting in 38 arrests by Sept 23.
“Most cases were in Uttar Pradesh, including Kaiserganj (355 accused people), Shahjahanpur (200), Baghpat (150), Kanpur (24), Kaushambi (3), Unnao (8), Maharajganj (64), Pilibhit (9), and Varanasi (1). Other states included Godhra, Gujarat (88), Kashipur, Uttarakhand (401), and Byculla, Maharashtra (1). These figures, shared by the APCR on social media and confirmed by its office bearer, did not include cases filed in Bareilly between September 26-27,” the outlet reported.
With several incidents of protests or communal clashes since then, the next major flashpoint that occurred was in Uttar Pradesh’s city of Bareilly, when a public demonstration called by Ittehad-i-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan was disrupted by violence.
The cleric had urged the Muslim community to join the campaign, professing the slogan and to gather at Islamia Ground before submitting a memorandum addressed to the president, but the call was taken back due to a lack of permission from the administrative authorities.
Despite this, “hundreds of people” gathered near Islamic Ground on Sept 26 after Friday prayers and began to converge at the assembly point. Clashes soon erupted as police faced off against the demonstrators, with stones being pelted, shots being fired and tear gas shelling and baton charges used to disperse the crowd. Several arrests were made, including the IMC chief.
The Wire reported that by Sept 27, internet services were suspended, arrests followed and a large police contingent was stationed in the town. It said the IMC chief had criticised the police action as being targeted towards Muslims, adding that the situation soon “quickly acquired a political dimension” when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condemned the clashes as a “well-orchestrated attempt to disrupt social harmony” at a public event the same day.
“Maulana had forgotten who is in power,“ the outlet quoted the right-wing CM as saying, adding that he asserted that the government would act firmly against those who hold the system hostage through street unrest.
“Whenever a Hindu festival or celebration approaches, they get overheated. To cool them down, we have to do some denting and painting … The lesson we have taught them will make future generations think twice before rioting,” he was quoted as saying by Frontline.
Meanwhile, police and officials said legal action was launched in connection with the clashes and 10 cases were registered across various police stations by Sept 27 with eight individuals sent to judicial custody and a total of 39 people detained in the crackdown.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s comments and the state response generated criticism from both within party ranks and outside.
Jahanzaib Sirwal, a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Indian-occupied Kashmir, called for an impartial investigation to hold all wrongdoers accountable and not just one community.
“What was a simple, heartfelt act of faith has been met with FIRs, detentions and inflammatory rhetoric, including Adityanath’s remarks about ‘denting-painting’ and teaching lessons to generations,” said the BJP leader.
He added that such statements were divisive and also an “affront to the constitutional right under Article 25 to freely practice and profess one’s religion”. Expressing his displeasure, Sirwal also threatened to resign from the party over Adityanath’s “unacceptable” remarks and the “vindictive” attitude of the state police against the Muslim community.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav criticised the government’s response soon after the crackdown. “The government’s display of power is a sign of its weakness. Governments run not through baton charges but through harmony and goodwill. Utterly condemnable!” he said on X.
Jamat-i-Islami Vice President Professor Salim Engineer slammed the police action in Kanpur and other instances against protesters as a “blatant attempt” to suppress the Muslim community’s voice.
“The statements by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath regarding Kanpur and its aftermath clearly indicate the ruling dispensation’s attitude. When people protested this government’s attitude and the administration’s unfair action in Kanpur, authorities attempted to suppress them. We witnessed the violence in Bareilly and the police brutality against protesters. They appear to want to send a message, to make this a lesson for Muslims,” Engineer was quoted as saying by Frontline.
Meanwhile, The Times of India reported that All India Muslim Jamaat President Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi called the incidents “unfortunate” and urged people to uphold peace.
“The incident is unfortunate. Such incidents should not occur on either side. I appeal to everyone to uphold peace. The only way to love the messenger of Islam is to not hurt anyone, neither through words nor through actions and uphold peace. He has given a message of peace to the entire world. So, I urge all Muslims to maintain law and order, not take law into their hands and not cause conflicts with anyone —neither with the police nor with the administration… Follow what the messenger of Islam said and the path he showed. This is the biggest love,” he said.
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