(MENAFN- Live Mint) All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has claimed that it is easier for someone to say "I love Modi", but not "I love Mohammad" in India.

The Hyderabad Member of Parliament 's remarks come as Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly remained tense since a protest over "I Love Mohammad" posters row turned violent last week.

“A case is going on for the Sambhal mosque. Our mosques are being snatched away. In this country, one can say 'I love Modi' but not 'I love Mohammad'. Where are you taking this nation? If someone says 'I love Modi', everyone becomes becomes happy. But if someone says 'I love Mohammad ', then that is objected to,” Owaisi said during a speech in Hyderabad on October 2.

Also Read | 'I Love Mohammad' protest: UP cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan arrested over violence

Internet was suspended across four districts in the Bareilly division , and a massive security deployment was seen on the streets on Thursday in light of Dussehra festivities and the scheduled Friday prayers on October 3.

“If I am a Muslim, it is because of Mohammad . There is nothing above and beyond that for the 17 crore Indians who participated in the country's independence. We condemn violence," Owaisi said citing videos showing the alleged police lathicharge on people and some shopkeepers showered flowers on them.

If you install his posters, you have to respect them... I want to ask the government why they are making so many laws.

"There are videos in which police are lathi-charging and shopkeepers are showering flowers on them. We must keep in mind that the police are only accountable to those in power and no one else. They will beat you tomorrow when the power shifts... No one was named Mohammad other than the Prophet Mohammad,” he said.

What led to 'I love Mohammad' protests?

Over 2,000 protestors gathered outside a mosque in Bareilly after Friday prayers last week to protest the cancellation of a proposed protest over the“I Love Mohammad” poster row. Protestors hurled stones, police personnel were injured and people were lathi-charged upon. At least 81 arrests have been made over the violence so far.

Also Read | Owaisi on 'I love Muhammad' row: 'What is the problem?'

The protests, called by Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan , stemmed from an FIR filed in Kanpur on September 9 regarding the alleged installation of“I Love Mohammad” boards on a public road during a Barawafat procession.

While Owaisi questioned the government he also urged people to act within the law.

Act within the law: Owaisi

“If you install his posters, you have to respect them... I want to ask the government why they are making so many laws, and what is happening? 3000 Muslims in Assam were made homeless, claiming that the construction was on government land... We must not be bothered by the situation. We have to deal with patience. We must do everything within the law. Don't take the law into your own hands. When you act within the law, you will realise that the law is just a spiderweb and nothing else,” he said.

Earlier the AIMIM chief also slammed local administration's bulldozer action on Mohsin Raza's property following his arrest in connection with the Bareilly violence case. Mohsin is connected to Maulana Tauqeer Raza, who was arrested earlier and is currently in judicial custody.

Also Read | 'Devil will be in the detail': AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi on SC order on Waqf Act

Bareilly Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Ajay Kumar Sahni said that many associates of Maulana Tauqeer Raza, who has emerged as the chief conspirator in the stone pelting case, have been arrested.

(With agency inputs)

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