New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday issued a stern warning in the wake of Friday’s clashes in Bareilly linked to the “I love Muhammad” campaign. He declared that no force could disrupt law and order in the state. “A cleric in Bareilly forgot who is in power in UP. He thought he could halt the system whenever he wanted. But we have made it clear, there will be no blockades, no curfews. The lesson we taught will make future generations think twice before rioting,” Adityanath said.
His comments came after cleric and Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief Taqueer Raza Khan was detained along with more than two dozen others. Khan, who had initially announced a demonstration in support of the “I Love Muhammad” campaign, called it off last minute. However, the announcement drew large crowds near his residence and outside a mosque in the Kotwali area after Friday prayers.
According to reports, when the crowd attempted to march towards the Islamia Inter College ground, they were stopped at Khalil Tiraha. The situation turned violent as demonstrators pelted stones, vandalised shops and vehicles and triggered a stampede-like panic.
Taqueer Khan had been politically active earlier
Tauqeer Raza Khan, a descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan, the founder of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam, has been politically active for over two decades and exerts influence in Bareilly and neighbouring districts.
The “I love Muhammad” controversy began on September 9 in Kanpur, when police booked several people for installing boards with the phrase during a Barawafat procession. Several Hindu groups objected and called it a deviation from tradition and a provocation. The row has since spread to other parts of Uttar Pradesh as well as Uttarakhand and Karnataka.
Yogi Adityanath further said, “Before 2017, riots meant curfews and blockades. But in our rule, not a single curfew has been imposed. Earlier, rioters were welcomed at the CM’s residence, criminals were honoured, and the government bowed before mafia. Today, law rules the land,” he said.