By June 12, 2022 morning, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested at least 325 people in 13 FIRs relating to the Friday protests that condemned the hate speech spewed by suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma. By 8 AM on Sunday, Prayagraj (Allahabad) recorded the highest number of arrests of 91 people.
What sparked the arrest?
On June 10 afternoon, huge protests by Muslims broke out in at least 16 cities of India. This included the national capital Delhi, along with Srinagar, Lucknow, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Sahranpur, Firozabad, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Kolkata-Howrah and Panvel among others. Protesters unitedly called for Sharma’s arrest after she made derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad and Islam during a Times Now debate on May 26.
Uninterrupted by the news anchor Navika Kumar, Sharma went on to utter anti-Islam slurs. It wasn’t until June 5 that Sharma was suspended after massive outrage from Gulf countries. On May 28, the Mumbai police also registered an FIR against her. Nonetheless, India’s Muslim community gathered in huge crowds to condemn her remarks as well as that of recently-expelled BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal.
While some protests ended peacefully with people dispersing within half an hour of the demonstration, many places in Uttar Pradesh and other states reported conflict between the police and protesters. While some areas reported stray incidents of stone-pelting by the people, other areas said the police resorted to lathi-charge and tear gassing. Overall, 91 people were arrested in Prayagraj, 71 people were arrested in Saharanpur, 51 people were arrested in Hathras, 34 people were arrested in Moradabad, 15 people were arrested in Ferozabad and 34 people were arrested in Ambedkar Nagar.
The former two areas filed three FIRs each while the rest reported one FIR in each district.
By Monday morning, one person in Prayagraj Moradabad and Ferozabad each was arrested, nine people arrested in Saharanpur and seven people were arrested in Ambedkar Nagar. Moreover, six people were arrested in Aligarh and four people were arrested in Jalaun, said Hindustan Times.
Police accuse protesters
In Prayagraj, one FIR listed as many as 11 named and over 250 unnamed people. These people were charged for rioting, unlawful assembly, promoting religious hatred, attempted murder, hurting a police officer, mischief by explosive or fire, criminal intimidation, among other IPC charges. Further they were charges for possessing an explosive and trying to detonate it under Explosive Substances Act among other acts.
As per the report, protesters suddenly appeared at the Shaukat Ali Tiraha after jumma namaz (Friday prayers). The police (in the FIR) termed protesters as miscreants and alleged that they were armed with bombs and stones and refused to listen to the police’s requests to maintain peace.
The FIR also claimed that the protesters allegedly threatened and abused the police and burned a nearby motorcycle. When reinforcements arrived, the police used tear-gas shells, lathi charged people and fired gun shots.
“Under a well-planned conspiracy, minor children were also brought in by instigating. These minor children were also supporting the miscreants,” said the police report.
Further, Economic Times on Sunday reported 100 arrests in Howrah and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal. A prohibitory order was also enforced in the districts. In Jharkhand, the Ranchi police registered 25 FIRs against ‘thousands’ of people after clashes that resulted in two deaths and injuries to scores of people. This is the same city where a clueless Muslim youth was attacked by the police solely for standing in the protest area.
Demolitions in the background
However, near simultaneous with these arrests, came the demolition notices to various families whose members participated in this and earlier protests in the state. As per a notice sent out by the Prayagraj administration to local activist Javed Mohammad, authorities intended to demolish encroaching houses in Kareli by June 12. However, on June 9 night, the police detained Javed. Then his wife and younger daughter were detained without warrant, that too after sunset. These are family members of the anti-CAA activisit Afreen Fatima who was active in 2019-2020.
A day before this, the Hindustan Times reported that Kanpur and Saharanpur authorities also demolished homes of those accused in the Friday protests. Such demolitions have become a regular form of state-sponsored force especially since the illegal demolitions in Khargone Madhya Pradesh (April 2022). A house built under the PM Awas Yojana was also destroyed at the time. Over time, this incident was succeeded by demolitions in Delhi, Assam and Bengaluru. In all these areas, the communities targeted were Muslim communities.
Earlier, Sabrang India has reported how Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (Ajay Bisht) received the title ‘Bulldozer Baba’ for authorising demolition of homes and properties of people who were dubbed as either criminals or members of the mafia. In fact, his 2022 election was won on slogans of reprisal justice and the victory procession in Lucknow saw JCB bulldozers being paraded through the streets of the state capital of Lucknow. Before 2022, this abuse of demolition work can be traced to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in 2019 during which detention, arrests, beating up and then attaching properties of “accused” was undertaken, almost unquestioned by the state’s administration.
Adityanath had referred to the heavy machinery in multiple speeches during elections and took out bulldozer rallies after winning on March 10, 2022.
Related:
Spontaneous pan-India protests against Nupur Sharma
Ranchi: 2 dead and Muslim boy terrorised for Friday protests