By Muslim Mirror Network
A court in Bareilly has turned down the bail requests of Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan chief of Ittehad‑e‑Millat Council (IMC) alongside five other involved in the September 26 unrest triggered by posters bearing the slogan “I Love Mohammad”.
According to the Additional District Government Counsel Mahesh Pathak, Raza had urged community members to gather at Islamia Maidan despite prohibitory orders being in place. When the police attempted to disperse the crowd, stones were allegedly thrown at officers and a rifle was snatched from the superintendent of police’s gunner, as well as a wireless set from a police jeep.
Ten FIRs have been filed across multiple police stations (Kotwali, Baradari, Premnagar, Cantt and Qila), naming more than 125 named accused and over 2,500 unidentified persons. Raza was initially named in seven of these cases and later added to the remaining three during the investigation.
The bail plea pertained to the case registered under the Baradari police station in the Shyamganj area, and the hearing was conducted in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Amrita Shukla. The other accused whose bail pleas were rejected include Faizan Sakalani, Takim, Munir Idrishi (all from Bareilly) and Harman and Nematullah (from Purnea, Bihar).
Raza has been in custody since September 27 and is lodged in Fatehgarh Jail, while the other accused are housed in Bareilly Jail. He also faces older charges linked to the 2019 anti-CAA/NRC protests.
Observers argue that the government is targeting Muslims for merely expressing their commitment to faith.
The “I Love Muhammad” slogan, which began as a peaceful and devotional expression of Muslim identity, was quickly politicised by right-wing groups and sections of the government in India. What was meant to be an affirmation of faith was distorted into a supposed act of provocation or defiance.
In several places, posters bearing the slogan were labelled as “communal” or “anti-national,” and police cases were filed under the pretext of maintaining law and order.
This story was originally published in muslimmirror.com.
