'I Love Muhammed' Row: Police, Locals Clash Outside Bareilly Mosque

2025-09-26 03:11:32

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer)
Security personnel lathi-charge protesters during a demonstration over the issue of 'I Love Mohammad' posters in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday. PTI Photo

Bareilly- An announcement postponing a proposed demonstration in support of the 'I Love Muhammad' campaign by Maulana Tauqeer Raza, local cleric and chief of Ittehad-e-Millat Council, led to a clash between a large crowd and police outside a mosque in Bareilly on Friday.

Police said large crowds holding 'I Love Muhammad' posters gathered outside the cleric's residence and near the mosque, both in the Kotwali area and located at a short distance from each other, after Friday prayers, with people expressing their anger over the suspension of the demonstration.

Sources said Raza made a last-minute announcement to call off the demonstration, saying the authorities did not grant permission for it.

On Thursday, the cleric had warned that the demonstration would go ahead“at any cost”.

Police attempted to disperse the crowd which gathered outside the mosque, but the angry protesters began pelting stones, prompting the police to use force.

Visuals on social media and news channels showed locals clashing with the police, armed with batons, even as senior officers, including DIG Ajay Kumar Sahni, SSP Anurag Arya and DM Avinash Singh, reached the Kotwali area to diffuse the situation.

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