'I Love Muhammad' row: Police, locals clash after Friday prayers outside Bareilly mosque

Bareilly: Clashes broke out between locals and police outside a mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly after Friday prayers on Friday after several protestors gathered ther in support of the "I Love Muhammad" campaign on the call of a local cleric and Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza.

Police said large crowds gathered outside the cleric's residence and near the mosque, both in the Kotwali area, after Friday prayers, with people expressing their anger over the last-minute suspension of the protest due to denial of permission by the local authorities.

Visuals on social media and TV news channels showed locals clashing with the police, armed with batons, even as senior officers reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

"The situation is now normal and under control. No untoward incident has been reported. We are appealing to people to maintain peace and harmony," District Magistrate Avinash Singh told reporters.

The controversy dates back to September 9 when police in Kanpur filed an FIR against nine named and 15 unidentified persons for allegedly installing boards with “I Love Muhammad” written on them on a public road in Kanpur during a Barawafat procession on September 4.

The move triggered objections from Hindu organisations, which termed it a “new trend” and alleged it was a deliberate provocation.

The row gained wider attention after AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in a social media post asserted that saying “I Love Muhammad” was not a crime.