Peaceful Friday in Bareilly; internet blocked, Samajwadi Party delegation stopped
Officials and security forces conducted flag marches, foot marches in the city while the clerics appealed the people to maintain peace.
The internet remained suspended in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly following last week's violence that broke out in the city after the congregational Friday prayers over ‘I love Mohammad’ poster protests. However, the situation remained peaceful in the city, where security arrangements had been heightened on Friday.
Officials and security forces conducted flag marches, foot marches in the city while the clerics appealed the people to maintain peace, news agency PTI reported.
Samajwadi Party delegation to Bareilly stopped
A delegation of the Samajwadi Party led by Pandey was scheduled to visit Bareilly on Friday. However, Pandey said he was given a notice by the police to stay at home. “If the collector had written, I would have accepted it.in the backdrop of the protests,” he said.
Pandey said he received a letter from the Bareilly Dist"rict Magistrate who said that the visit could “spoil the atmosphere”. To hide their own shortcomings, they are not allowing us to go there. We will now talk to our party members and decide accordingly," he told news agency ANI.
Visuals shared by ANI showed heavy deployment outside Pandey's Lucknow residence.
What did the police say?
Friday prayers were offered peacefully at all mosques across Bareilly. PTI quoted DM Avinash Singh as saying that people fully cooperated with police and the administration.
The city was divided into super zones, zones and sectors and officials were deployed at various locations to ensure calm, while the religious leaders appealed to people to return straight to their homes after offering prayers. Drones had also been deployed to monitor the situation.
The vice-chairman of the Bareilly Development Authority, Manikandan A, said on instructions from the district administration, a list of immovable properties of the miscreants involved in the violence that broke out in the city on September 26 is being prepared, and major action will be taken soon.
What happened on September 26
Nearly 2,000 people gathered outside a mosque in Kotwali area after Friday prayers as cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan called for a demonstration in support of the 'I Love Muhammad' campaign. However, chaos ensued when Khan made a last-minute announcement that the demonstration had been called off. Due to the last-minute announcement, angry protestors gathered around Raza’s residence and a local mosque nearby with banners reading ‘I love Muhammad’. Police resorted to a lathi charge after which people threw stones on them.
Ten FIRs have been lodged in cases, and hundreds have been, mostly unidentified, in connection with the violence. Cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan, his aides and some relatives, have been arrested in the case. Reports said that 81 people were arrested by Wednesday.
What is the 'I Love Muhammad' row?
The row dates back to September 9, when an FIR was filed against 24 people for allegedly installing boards with “I Love Muhammad” written on them on during a Barawafat procession on September 4. Hindu groups and organisations in the area objected to the posters and called it a "deliberate provocation."
The initial call for the protest made by Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan called for a procession to the district magistrate's house to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which penned their dissatisfaction with the FIR against the poster.
