By Rohit Walke
Tension flared in Ahilyanagar’s Miliwada area on Sunday night after graffiti with the words “I love Muhammad” appeared on a roadside rangoli in the Milliwada area late on Sunday night. A video of the graffiti went viral by morning, sparking protests from Muslim youths who blocked the busy Ahilyanagar–Sambhaji highway.
Locals lodged a complaint at the nearby police station, following which an FIR was registered, and one person was arrested for making the rangoli. However, the protesters were not convinced and began a demonstration in Kotla under the Tofkhana police station area.
Around 7 am, the protest escalated into stone pelting when police tried to pacify the crowd. Officers then resorted to a mild lathicharge to disperse the agitators. Ahilyanagar police confirmed that the situation is now under control, with 30 people detained and a fresh FIR registered in connection with the violence.
Commenting on the violence, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said there appeared to be an attempt to deliberately create social tension. “We will have to see if there is a conspiracy behind this. We also need to see who is trying to spoil the social environment. Is anyone trying to polarise us in the same way that was attempted during the Lok Sabha elections? Everyone has the right to practice their religion, but it is wrong to create tension among people in this way,” Fadnavis said in Yavatmal on Monday.
The incident comes amid the wider ‘I love Muhammad’ controversy that began in Kanpur earlier this month during the Barawafat procession and has since spiralled into rallies and demonstrations across several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana and Maharashtra. Clashes were reported in Bareilly and Nagpur, while demonstrations in places like Unnao, Lucknow, and Hyderabad saw large turnouts.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi defended the slogan on social media, criticising police action and insisting that saying “I Love Muhammad” was not a crime. His post amplified the issue into a national political debate, drawing sharper responses from state governments.
This story was originally published in indiatoday.in. Read the full story here.
