The act, discovered on the morning of Saturday, October 25, 2025, was immediately seen as a deliberate communal provocation. Given the charged atmosphere in the state over the “I Love Muhammad” slogan, which had led to widespread police crackdowns in other districts, the incident was treated with extreme seriousness. Local Hindu residents and right-wing organisations were incensed. A formal police complaint (FIR) was swiftly lodged by Gyanendra Singh Chauhan, the All-India Vice President of the Karni Sena.

Based on this complaint, Aligarh police initially registered a case against eight Muslim men from the locality. The men named in the FIR were Mustaqeem, Gul Mohammad, Sulaiman, Sonu, Allahbaksh, Hameed, and Yousuf. After the incident, heavy police forces were deployed to the villages to prevent any outbreak of violence as tensions soared.

However, as investigators, led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, began their work, they noticed inconsistencies. According to a report in The Times of India, the officers observed that the slogans were “misspelled, and all in the same way.” This misspelling was crucial. It did not match the stencilling or lettering style of the “I Love Muhammad” banners and posters that had been seen during protests and processions in other cities, such as Bareilly. This discrepancy led investigators to suspect “mischief” and the possibility of a different motive.

Police investigation

Police teams pivoted their investigation. Shifting from the assumption of a communal motive, they employed technical surveillance and began examining local disputes. Their work led them to a group of men from the Hindu community.

On October 30, SSP Neeraj Jadaun held a press briefing to announce the arrest of four men, Zeeshanth Singh (also reported as Jishant Kumar), Akash Saraswat (or Akash Kumar), Dilip Sharma (or Dilip Kumar), and Abhishek Saraswat. A fifth accused, identified as Rahul, was reported as absconding.

Aligarh: Abhishek Saraswat (s/o Virendra Sharma, Aakash (s/o Santosh Saraswat), Dileep Kumar (s/o Ramraj Sharma) & Zeeshanth Kumar (s/o Yashpal Singh) arrested by UP’s Aligarh police for allegedly writing “I love Mohammed” on temple walls to frame Muslim neighbours due to… pic.twitter.com/f7l9DHhxQA

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) October 30, 2025

The motive, police revealed, was not communal hatred. It was a calculated conspiracy born from a personal vendetta.

SSP Jadaun stated that the main accused, Jishant Singh, had a “personal dispute” with Mustakeem, one of the Muslim men who was initially named in the FIR. Media reports specified the conflict was related to a land-related rivalry. In a deliberate and malicious attempt to settle this score, Jishant Singh allegedly conspired with his friends to paint the inflammatory slogans on the temple walls. Their goal was to “falsely implicate” Mustakeem and his associates, leveraging the existing communal tensions surrounding the “I Love Muhammad” slogan to ensure their rivals were arrested and publicly disgraced.

“The investigation found that the graffiti was not a communal act but a deliberate attempt to implicate others due to a land-related rivalry,” SSP Jadaun said, as reported

The revelation was a profound shock to the local community. It demonstrated how easily personal conflicts could be masked as communal ones, with perpetrators willing to risk widespread violence to settle a score. Even before the arrests, some had suspected a setup.

On October 25, Samajwadi Party leader Zia Ur Rehman Barq had alleged that the graffiti was part of a “well-thought-out conspiracy” and stated, “If an impartial investigation is conducted, it will be clear that no Muslim person was involved in this act.”

#WATCH | Sambhal, UP: On Moradabad Madrasa asking for a virginity certificate from girls, SP MP Zia ur Rahman Barq says, “We also found out about this through social media. However, I still believe that it has not happened at any of our Madarsa or religious institutions where a… pic.twitter.com/0f3afPBxnJ

— ANI (@ANI) October 25, 2025

Following the arrests, SSP Jadaun confirmed that the case registered against the eight Muslim men would be withdrawn, and the four arrested men were booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 for promoting enmity between groups and disturbing public peace.

Background: the “I Love Muhammad” campaign and state crackdown

The Aligarh incident did not happen in a vacuum. It was the volatile endpoint of a controversy that had been building for nearly two months, starting with a simple expression of faith.

The timeline begins on September 4, 2025, in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. As part of the celebrations for Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, some young Muslim men in the Syed Nagar locality of Rawatpur put up a decorative light board at the entrance of a lane. It bore a simple message in English: “I Love Muhammad.”

As per a report in The Wire, this act drew objections from some local right-wing groups. They claimed the banner was a “new tradition” and alleged it was a “deliberate provocation” because it was placed on a public road near a gate also used for Hindu festival processions like Ram Navami.

On September 9, police in Kanpur registered an FIR against 24 people (nine named and 15 unidentified) for allegedly “disturbing communal harmony.” A local prayer leader, Shabnoor Alam, who was named in the FIR, told The Wire that police had asked him to help convince the crowd to move the board. Another accused, Mohammad Siraj, stated, “Last year, we displayed the same message on a cloth banner, and no one raised objections. This year, we used a light board, and suddenly people started protesting. I don’t understand why.”

The flashpoint: violence in Bareilly

The police action in Kanpur transformed the slogan from a festive decoration into a symbol of protest. In response to what they saw as the criminalisation of their faith and expressions, Muslim groups in other cities began displaying the slogan as an act of religious expression and defiance.

This set the stage for a major confrontation in Bareilly. Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, a prominent local cleric and leader of the Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC), called for a large protest after Friday prayers on September 26, 2025. The protest was called to oppose the police crackdowns and alleged derogatory remarks made against the Prophet.

Despite authorities denying permission for a march, thousands gathered at the Islamia Ground. The situation quickly spiralled out of control. Clashes erupted between protesters and police. Reports from the ground described stone-pelting from the crowd and even alleged gunfire, which prompted a heavy lathi charge from security forces to disperse the gathering.

The aftermath was severe. Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan and seven others were arrested and later sent to 14-day judicial custody. As many as ten FIRs were registered across Bareilly, each naming between 150 and 200 Muslims, with over 2,500 people accused in total. By late September, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), a non-governmental organisation, had already documented at least 21 FIRs nationwide related to the campaign, with 1,324 Muslims named and 38 arrested. In Meerut, five men were arrested simply for putting up a poster with the slogan, as per a report in The New Indian Express.

The counter-campaign and political rhetoric

As the “I Love Muhammad” slogan became a national controversy, it triggered a counter-campaign from right-wing organisations. In Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, activists from a saffron outfit called the Sanatan Sena began pasting posters with the slogan “I love Mahadev” on walls, temples, and mutts.

Jagadguru Shankaracharya Narendrananda, who led the effort, told Deccan Herald that the “saint community will respond to the fundamentalists through these posters” and that some elements were “trying to foment communal tension” with the “I Love Muhammad” posters.

This “poster war” highlighted a sharp political and social divide. Political leaders like AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti publicly questioned the discrepancy.

I LOVE MOHAMMAD ﷺ @adgzonekanpur ये जुर्म नहीं है। अगर है तो इसकी हर सज़ा मंज़ूर है।

तुम पर मैं लाख जान से क़ुर्बान या-रसूल
बर आएँ मेरे दिल के भी अरमान या-रसूल

क्यों दिल से मैं फ़िदा न करूँ जान या-रसूल
रहते हैं इस में आप के अरमान या-रसूल https://t.co/8kKWY22zHC

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 15, 2025

They asked why expressing “I Love Muhammad” was being met with FIRs, lathi charges, and arrests, while slogans like “I Love Mahadev” or “Jai Shree Ram” were seen as acceptable expressions of faith.

Jharkhand Minister Irfan Ansari remarked, “Just like people who believe in Sanatan Dharma, write ‘I love Ram’… and I don’t have any problem, I love Prophet Mohammed… I cannot understand how these three words can be the cause of arrests.”

#WATCH | Ranchi | Jharkhand Minister Irfan Ansari says, “Just like people who believe in Sanatan Dharma, write ‘I love Ram’, ‘I love Hanuman’, ‘I love Krishna’, ‘I love Sita’ or ‘I love Radha’, and I don’t have any problem, I love Prophet Mohammed and Islam as I belong to… pic.twitter.com/9s66IAMrnN

— ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2025

The controversy was further inflamed by the rhetoric of high-ranking officials. On September 28, 2025, in the wake of the Bareilly violence, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a series of widely reported public statements. Speaking at an event, he warned against “vandalism in the name of faith” and promised severe retribution.

“If you trouble us, we will not spare you,” he stated, using the Hindi phrase, “chedhoge to chodenge nahi.” He promised action that would be remembered by “future generations” and said that “denting and painting must be done.”

Civil rights groups and media critics argued that this language, which was amplified by national news channels, effectively framed the display of the “I Love Muhammad” slogan not as an issue of religious freedom, but as a severe law-and-order problem. This, they argued, legitimised the harsh police crackdowns across the state.

The Aligarh incident, therefore, serves as a crucial case study. It exposed the danger of a high-tension environment where a slogan had become so loaded with political and communal baggage that individuals felt they could weaponise it to settle a personal score, confident that the blame would fall along pre-existing fault lines. It was only through a police investigation that looked beyond the obvious communal narrative that the true, and more personal, conspiracy was brought to light.

Related:

From slogan to sanction: how a Chief Minister’s words hardened into punitive policing after the “I Love Muhammad” row

Free speech, even in bad taste, is protected if no incitement to violence: HP HC

Two Hate-Filled Speeches, One Election: CJP complaints against Himanta Biswa Sarma and Tausif Alam for spreading hate and fear in Bihar elections

The post A Conspiracy of Hate: The Aligarh temple graffiti incident appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The victim serves as the imam of the village mosque and also teaches Urdu to local children. On the day of the incident, he was returning home on his bicycle after class when, he says, he was intercepted by a group of young men who had been harassing him over several days.

“Some boys had been bothering me for the past few days,” Mustakeem told

“They stopped me on Saturday when I was returning home on my bicycle and told me to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. When I refused, they took out sticks and beat me, and also asked me to go to Pakistan” as Times of India reported

The assault, which reportedly lasted nearly two hours, left him severely injured and hospitalised.

Imam beaten, told ‘bury him here’

The imam’s testimony reveals a grim picture of targeted violence. According to him, the group not only beat him but made chilling remarks during the attack.

“They wouldn’t let me get up and said, ‘Yahi dafnado’ (Bury him here),” he recalled.

Local bystanders eventually intervened and rushed the injured imam to a nearby hospital. Several others who came to his aid were also reportedly hurt in the fracas. Mustakeem stated that he had earlier refrained from reporting previous harassment in hopes that it would subside on its own. “I didn’t want to cause tension in the village,” he said

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Link: https://x.com/iamharunkhan/status/1969609117888098571

Police deny communal motive, call it a simple scuffle

Responding to the allegations circulating on social media, City Superintendent of Police (SP) Mrigank Shekhar Pathak stated that the incident appeared to be a case of minor conflict and not communal in nature. 

He said that “A case has come to our notice through social media, in which   person is stating that he was forced to chant some religious slogans and was beaten up. In this regard, it is informed that yesterday, dated 20.09.2025, at Lodha Police Station, under Gram Bulakgarhi, a person named Mustkeem was going on his bicycle when some children came in the way, and during the process of removing those children, he had an argument with a person named Jishan who was standing nearby. This led to a scuffle between the two individuals, resulting in injuries.”

Pathak added that both individuals were treated medically and were stable. 

“The police attended the incident on the spot and also conducted a scene inspection. In this connection, it is also informed that both individuals have been sent for treatment; both are stable now, and their medical examinations have been conducted” he added

Dismissing the claims of religious coercion, he said:

“Upon investigation, the matter appears to be a case of simple assault; no element of any religious angle or forcing to chant religious slogans has emerged in this case. This claim is completely false, and the Aligarh Police refutes it. Legal proceedings are being followed in this matter, statements from both parties have been received, and there is peace at the scene.”

थाना लोधा- सोशल मीडिया के माध्यम से एक प्रकरण संज्ञान में आया है, जिसमें एक व्यक्ति द्वारा बताया जा रहा है कि उसे कुछ धार्मिक नारे लगाने को मजबूर किया गया था और उसके साथ मारपीट की गई थी, इस संबंध में अवगत कराना है कि कल दि0 20.09.2025 को थाना लोधा में ग्राम बुलाकगढ़ी अन्तर्गत… pic.twitter.com/w6C66VHg67

— ALIGARH POLICE (@aligarhpolice) September 21, 2025

Community leaders said UP Police trying to brush the incident under the carpet

Local Muslim leaders have decried what they perceive as a deliberate effort to downplay the incident’s communal overtones. Among the most vocal is Sayyed Abdullah, president of the Aligarh unit of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.

“Imam Mustakeem suffered injuries and is in hospital. The police are trying to brush the incident under the carpet,” Abdullah told The Times of India. “We are planning to meet the SSP to ensure that an FIR is filed in connection with the case” as TOI reported

Abdullah said that the delay in legal action is a reflection of a growing trend where victims from minority communities face systemic indifference.

Patterns of intimidation

Notably, the imam’s ordeal is not an isolated incident but part of a wider pattern where religious minorities are coerced into displaying loyalty to the majority faith — or face brutal consequences. The chant “Jai Shri Ram”, while a common religious invocation for many Hindus, has increasingly been used by extremist elements as a litmus test for patriotism or allegiance to majority community ideals.

When refused, such slogans have, in many past instances, preceded mob assaults — particularly against Muslims and Dalits. Videos of these confrontations have frequently surfaced on social media, though legal consequences often remain elusive.

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Tilak, ID Checks & Religious Tests: what’s happening at Garba events?

Navratri: Communal demands mark pre-festival protest in Jabalpur

VHP leader assaults Muslim youth attempting to enter Navratri event in UP

The post Imam refused to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’, assaulted in UP and told to ‘Go to Pakistan’, no FIR filed yet appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Aligarh: Members of two communities clashed here in Uttar Pradesh following a brawl at a shop selling meat products, said police which deployed a large number of its personnel to bring the situation under control early Tuesday.

The clash was reported around midnight from the Sarai Sultani area, police said.

Police said two persons entered into an argument at the shop selling cooked chicken and meat products, and a brawl broke out on Monday night.

As the news about the incident at the shop spread, members of two communities confronted each other and it turned violent with people throwing stones at each other, police said.
 

Uttar Pradesh | Stones pelted after a scuffle broke out between some people over buying meat from a shop in Aligarh

Some people went to a meat shop. An argument happened between the people and the shopkeeper & later stone pelting happened. 2 got injured: Aligarh DM pic.twitter.com/ALyKGhdETh

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 16, 2023

They said as soon as information was received, a large deployment of personnel was made in the area, and the situation was brought under control.

Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani, who rushed to the spot along with other top district officials, told reporters early Tuesday that the situation is under control but a strict vigil is being maintained.

He said a report is being filed, and strong action will be taken against the perpetrators. Security arrangements in the area have been tightened. No casualties were reported, the officer said.

Courtesy: Siasat

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A 17-year-old girl in Aligarh committed suicide last week on Saturday, two days after she was allegedly raped by two men of the same village, The Indian Express reported.

An FIR has been filed under Sections Sections 376 (D) (gangrape) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act.

Police officials said that the girl was found hanging in her house on Saturday. Her family alleged that after the incident, there was a panchayat held in the village where the girl was pressured into “resolving” the issue.

The girl’s family said that the incident took place last week on Thursday. Her father said, “They… sexually assaulted her… And after that they held a panchayat to give out meagre punishment. I was told the boys threatened her… She took it to heart and felt that she had been insulted on all ends and hanged herself.”

About the matter, Aligarh SSP, Muniraj G said, “On Saturday, the police was informed that a minor has committed suicide in an Aligarh village. When we investigated, we were told by the deceased’s family members that she had been gangraped in the village itself. Prima facie it appears that a panchayat was also held to resolve the issue. Two persons have been arrested and action against those will also be taken those who participated in the village panchayat if they are found linked to abetment of suicide.”

According to Hindi news website Uttam Hindu, the panchayat announced that the men involved in the incident should be beaten with shoes by the victim and shamed by blackening their faces. The hapless girl did as she was told and the boys were left with a mere warning. That the panchayat felt this punishment equivalent for the crime, is appalling.

According to the publication, the girl was returning home from the washroom when the incident happened. This was when two boys followed her, covered her face and dragged her away, raped and left her with a threat that she shouldn’t speak about the incident to anyone.

The attitude of the villagers left her feeling wronged and distressed and she decided to end her life. The deceased’s body has now been sent for a postmortem and the police say that strict action will be taken against the perpetrators.

Related:

Lockdown impact: Distraught mothers, dead babies and more
Compensate for denial of timely inquiry by right forum in sexual harassment case of ex-RAW employee: SC to UoI

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For these women, this election was less about the idea of democracy and more about how it functions. It was about applications filled and identification cards denied, and at the core of it were their efforts to seek out two things: the right to vote and the right to a decent source of livelihood.

This reporter visited four of the poorest areas of Aligarh, though by no means the only ones and used the 2011 census to identify these communities using indicators of employment, education, historical marginalisation, and low-paying work.

School, not factory

Sunita Devi (40) lost her husband, who worked in a barbershop, seven years ago. A year later, she applied for the widow’s pension, yet only received the money a month back: Rs. 1500 for three months.

On election day, she walked for half an hour in the afternoon heat to cast her vote.

She lives in Palaholi Chowk, which falls in Gambhirpura ward that has 22,751 people who do not know how to read or write, the highest in Aligarh, as per the census. Sunita Devi says that she too has never been to school and can neither read nor write.

She works in a hardware factory where she does khulai ka kaam. Her job is to clean metal products, such as door latches and bolts, in acid water. Her son works in another hardware factory, where he operates a power machine. Though both earn about Rs. 8000 a month, more than a third of it goes towards rent. This means that she can only afford to send only one of her children, her youngest daughter, to school.

A ‘No’ to vote

Sufiya Begum (50) lost her husband, who owned a provisions store, five years ago. Like Sunita Devi, she too does not receive widow’s pension, despite applying for it four months after his passing.

She lives in Jeevangarh, where more than 300 people, the highest number in Aligarh, work as household industry workers “manufacturing, processing, servicing, and repairing goods.” Her son, who financially supports her, is also one.

Election day was not a good one for her. She ran from pillar to post with her voter ID and Aadhar Card to cast her vote but was unable to do so.
The reason? She claims that her stepdaughter-in-law told the block level officer (BLO), who runs a school in her house, to cut Sufiya Begum’s name from the electoral register. When I went to meet the BLO with Sufiya Begum, she claimed that the reason was that Sufiya Begum had shifted. This meant that her residential area, notified as part number in the electoral roll, had changed. But Sufiya Begum interrupted the BLO, saying that she had shifted 15 years ago.

I asked the BLO whether she had sought Sufiya Begum’s permission before doing this. She said that she had spoken to her husband, now gone for five years, and then said that it was her stepdaughter-in-law who had told her.

She also claimed that she had applied for a new voter ID on behalf of Sufiya Begum but that it had not come through from the tehsil. As we were about to leave, an election official offered to give Sufiya Begum someone else’s voter slip who hadn’t shown up, so that she could vote but she said: “Ghalat kaam nahi karoongee–I won’t do anything illegal.”

Three widows, no pension

Shakuntala Singh (64), right, lost her husband, who was a farmer, six years ago to dengue.

On election day, the person ahead of her pressed the elephant symbol for the Bahujan Samaj Party but saw the Bharatiya Janata Party’s lotus sign come up on screen. She says that he got into an argument with the police about it, so she stepped in and suggested to the BLO that the machine should be removed, which it was, and the voting resumed.

She lives in Nagla Kalar, which, according to the census, has the highest Scheduled Caste population at 9,772 people. Singh herself is a Dalit Christian.

Three years after her husband’s death, her younger daughter’s husband also passed away and she came to live with Singh. Poonam Paul, her elder daughter (left), became a widow two months ago. Neither of her daughters receives a pension though both have applied. Singh received old age pension but that stopped when Yogi Adityanath became Chief Minister, she says. Now, Paul’s two sons support the family as does her sister who works as a cook in people’s homes.

Work among “non-workers”

From left to right, Pushpa (35), Kishan Pyari (40), Shanti Devi (65), and Roopvati (55), are all widows. But only Kishan Pyari and Pushpa received widow’s pension, and that too Rs. 1500 last month, though both their husbands passed away one and five years ago respectively.
They all voted and say that the biggest problem that they face is a lack of better employment opportunities. “Koi kaam hona chahiye–there should be some work,” says Roopvati, who support her family of five, by working as a tailor. Her two daughters, both of whom are college graduates, have not found formal employment, though they work as tailors alongside their mother.

All of them live in Upar Kot in Aligarh’s old city, specifically in Kaba ki Sarai that, has the highest number of “non-workers” at 14,965 people.
Pushpa, Kishan Pyari, and Shanti Devi work temporary jobs at people’s weddings making pooris. They leave in the morning and come back as late as 3 am, earning Rs. 200 per day. Pushpa says that they roll a quintal worth of flour into pooris every day.

But this is seasonal work and in all of their homes, at least one, if not more, of their children is also working. In Pushpa’s case, her two sons, both in their 20s, passed away, one in an unfortunate accident and the other from an illness that doctors failed to diagnose. She has two other teenaged sons. When I ask her if they go to school, she says: “School jayenge to khaane ko kaise aayega–if they go to school, where will we get the money to eat?” Both of them work in a locks workshop, like their father before them.

Meher Ali is an independent journalist based in Aligarh. She reports on refugees and human-rights related issues. You can also read her blog on the culture and heritage of Aligarh and western Uttar Pradesh here. Follow her on Twitter @aashi310 .

Courtesy: Two Circle

The post A widow’s vote: A photo essay appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Satish Gautam, the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP who was in news last year over a controversy surrounding Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait at the renowned Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is facing strong anti-incumbency and anger from traders. This has made the Lok Sabha election for the Aligarh constituency a triangular contest.

Satish Gautam is contesting against the Mahagathbandhan candidate Ajeet Baliyan of Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) and Bijendra Singh of Congress in the elections being held today.

Gautam seems to be banking on the split of Muslim votes as the opposition candidates are hoping for the consolidation of votes in their favour.

Traders in the area feel that they chose Gautam to bring “pro-people” policies and not instigate controversies like the one in AMU.

In May 2018, Gautam stirred controversies when he demanded that the portrait of Jinnah be removed from AMU student union office where it had been for decades. Hindu Yuva Vahini affiliates had attacked students and state police lathi charged students. Several students were brutally attacked and sustained injuries.

There are around 3.50 lakh Muslim voters, while Brahmins, Vaishyas and Chhatriyas together constitute about seven lakh of the total 18.73 lakh voters. Jat, Yadav and Lodi account for four lakh.

As per experts, Gautam rode on the “Modi wave” of 2014 to win the seat in 2014 by defeating BSP’s Arvind Kumar Singh by over two lakh votes. However, they believe that things have changed since and things could be different this time.

He faces strong opposition from with the party, with veteran leader and former Chief Minister of the state, Kalyan Singh opposing his candidature.

Anger is also brewing against him over demonetisation and high GST, though he cant be solely held responsible. The lock industrialists of the area are said to be extremely upset with him.

This anti-incumbency may benefit both Congress and mahagathbandhan who have promised to focus on education and improve the city’s infrastructure, many residents feel.

Baliyan, a newcomer is believed to have a good chance among the voters because of his strong support base among SC/ST voters.

A professor at Aligarh Muslim University, Ali Nadeem Rezavi said “It is high time that Muslims do tactical voting as that could play a very important role in the turnout in the election.”

Gautam has given a statement few hours back where he has reiterated his ‘resolve’ to send Jinnah’s portrait “back to Pakistan.”

Aligarh is having polls today in second phase of elections on April 18. Khair, Baroli, Atroli , Kol and Aligarh city are assembly segments in the constituency.
 

The post Desperate to send Jinnah’s portrait to Pakistan BJP MP faces triangular contest appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Iglas: After villagers in Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh herded more than 700 stray cows and bulls inside the 12 school compounds to save their crops, the situation continued to remain tense as more than a dozen cows were reportedly buried alive in Iglas locality.
 
The district administration and police authorities of Aligarh went into overdrive with the recovery of a dozen cow carcasses, believably, buried alive, near a canal on Aligarh-Mathura Road on Thursday morning.
 
Remains were dug out following information by a resident who found the animal parts popping out of the ground.
 
After the police authorities recovered the carcasses, a post-mortem examination was conducted which confirmed that the cows died of asphyxia.
 
As per the sources, Villagers found animal parts on the ground and after digging found five cows and they claimed that one of them was alive when the police reached the spot.
 
A resident told Times Of India on the condition of anonymity that the police personnel who initially arrived at the scene sent the five dugout cattle to the veterinary hospital and wanted to leave after cleaning the spot. However, they brought a JCB after angry villagers demanded that more area with loose sand should be dug up. The operation led to the recovery of seven more cows.
 
“Villagers of Iglas are up in arms against the administration for its failure to resolve the stray cattle menace. Residents say that ever since the Yogi Adityanath government imposed a ban on cow slaughter and ‘cow vigilantes’ are on the rampage, there has been a phenomenal increase in the population of non-lactating, old and ailing cows deserted by their owners. These animals have been destroying crops, leading to resentment among farmers,” the report added.
 
Abhimanyu Singh, who owns 20 bigha land in Iglas area, said that the farmers can’t afford to feed non-productive cows and no one wants to buy them because of the fear of “gau rakshaks”. “We respect cows, but they are damaging crops,” Singh said, adding that stray cattle had become a huge nuisance. “Farmers have been facing problems for the past year, but now the situation has worsened. The government must take corrective measures,” he said in the report.
 
The DM claimed that around 2,000 cattle were shifted to 12 gaushalas in the past three days.
 
Cow vigilantes from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Yuva Vahini blocked a state highway, protesting the death of a dozen cows the previous night near the Iglas area.
 
“We got the information from some local people that not all the cows were dead. Some of them were buried alive. We can’t tolerate this kind of cruelty on cows,” said Dharma Bhaiya, district in-charge of the VHP in a report by Economic Times.
 
However, both District Magistrate (DM), Aligarh, CB Singh and SSP Ajay Kumar Sahni denied that the cows were buried alive. He claimed that they were dead animals which were buried two days ago. The DM also claimed that autopsy of the bovines established their death two days ago. However, he cautioned against rumour mongers who wanted to vitiate the atmosphere.
 
Meanwhile, the residents of Iglas have raised the issue of increase in the population of stray cattle which was causing inconvenience to them. Besides destroying the crops, non-lactating, old and ailing cows lead to other problems in the area. However, the ban imposed on cow slaughter by the authorities and pro-active cow vigilante groups has made life difficult for residents.
 

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It has been more than a month since the chaotic process of demonetisation began. The drastic effect of this scheme is seen on local industries across the country. Aligarh's centuries-old lock industry, which comprises of 5,000 organised and as many unorganised units, employs over 2 lakh daily wage workers, and is worth Rs. 4000 crore is staring at what could be a total shutdown. 90% of the small and cottage scale units, including unregistered ones in Aligarh have either closed down or are on the brink of closure. Owners have no money to pay wages or buy raw material, while stock of manufactured goods is piling up in their storehouses. Newsclick spoke to the people in Aligarh regarding the devastating impact of demonetisation on their lives. Here is our video report from ground zero. 

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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मोदी के खिलाफ नारेपैसे की किल्लत से जूझ रहे लोग बैंकों में पहुंचे। बैंकों में बताया गया कि पैसे नहीं हैं। एटीएम भी खाली हैं। इस पर लोगों का गुस्सा फूट पड़ा। उन्होंने शहर के सभी प्रमुख चौराहों पर जाम कर दिया। प्रधानमंत्री नरेन्द्र मोदी के खिलाफ नारेबाजी की। उन पर जनता को परेशान करने का आरोप लगाया।

ये चौराहे और मार्ग किए जाम अलीगढ़ शहर के अब्दुल्ला चौराहा, दोदपुर, सिविल लाइंस, जीवनगढ़, रामघाट रोड, कठपुला जाम कर दिया। शहर में कहीं जाना है तो इन चौराहों और मार्गों पर आना ही होता है। हाल यह है कि एक किलोमीटर का सफर एक घंटे में तय हो पा रहा है। जहां पुतले फूंके गए हैं, वे सब मुस्लिमबहुल इलाके हैं

आभार: जागरण

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