By The Wire Staff
New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday (May 5) granted bail to a Muslim man arrested in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, over an Instagram post linked to the “I Love Mohammed” controversy. The court said his post never named any caste or community, Bar and Bench reports.
Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla noted that Nadeem had been in custody since October 7, 2025, and that a chargesheet had been filed in the case. His advocate Atul Kumar said there was no likelihood of the trial concluding soon. The court granted bail on a personal bond with two sureties, according to Bar and Bench.
The state opposed Nadeem’s plea, alleging his video was provocative for saying he would “slit his own neck and that of others” for the slogan “I Love Mohammed”. The police linked the slogan to incidents of unrest in Bareilly in September 2025, Bar and Bench reports.
Background to the arrest
In early September 2025, Hindu residents of a Kanpur locality, Rawatpur, opposed the use of the slogan “I love Muhammad” by Muslims during Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (the Prophet’s birthday) celebrations. When members of the Muslim community insisted on retaining the slogan (on a lightboard), a heated exchange occured. The police were called.
The board was removed and relocated. At the time, the police said the action was not against the slogan but because the procession had not stuck to “established routes“, the Indian Express reported a few days after the incident.
An FIR was lodged based on a police officer’s complaint on September 4. It reportedly said: “an attempt was also made to deliberately start a new tradition by putting up a ‘I LOVE MUHAMMAD’ banner at one Kunnu Kabadi’s place in Rawatpur village, which resulted in communal tension and confrontation”.
A few days later, police registered more FIRs against 24 people, 15 of them named, claiming communal harmony was disturbed. This followed allegations that religious posters significant to Hindus were torn during a Barawafat procession on May 5 in Rawatpur.
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