New Delhi: Police across India have registered 21 cases and booked more than 1,300 Muslims in connection with banners and demonstrations carrying the slogan “I Love Muhammad”, according to the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).
The crackdown began in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, after a Barawafat procession, and soon spread to several states as similar banners and campaigns appeared. APCR said that as of September 23, 38 people had been arrested.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for most of the cases, with 16 FIRs and over 1,000 accused. These included eight cases in Unnao with 85 named and five arrests, 150 accused in Baghpat with two arrests, 355 in Kaiserganj, 200 in Shahjahanpur, and 24 in Kaushambi with three arrests.
In Uttarakhand’s Kashipur, police registered one of the largest single cases outside UP, naming 401 people and arresting seven. Gujarat reported cases in Godhra, where 88 were accused and 17 arrested, and in Baroda, with one accused and one arrest. Maharashtra’s Byculla saw a single case with one charged and arrested.
Rights groups have criticized the police action as disproportionate and discriminatory. “Targeting people for expressing their love and respect for the Prophet is a gross violation of fundamental rights. Peaceful religious expression should never be criminalized,” said Nadeem Khan, APCR’s national secretary.
He added that expressions of devotion were being mischaracterized as law-and-order threats. “The expression of devotion to the Prophet and religion in particular has been criminalized. Peaceful demonstrations are being turned into law-and-order problems, targeting Muslims in masses,” Khan told Maktoob.
Legal experts also questioned the basis for the cases. “There is no legal basis to criminalize a banner or peaceful slogans. Filing FIRs against hundreds of people in the name of law and order is excessive and raises serious questions about proportionality and bias,” said Mohammad Imran Khan, a lawyer representing those charged in Kanpur.
APCR said it is considering judicial intervention, either through a writ petition in the Supreme Court or a public interest litigation.