Indian Union Muslim League MP ET Muhammed Basheer and delegation was Thursday prevented from visiting Muslims who were targeted and booked for protesting hate speech and detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
“Detained by UP police at Kanpur after trying to visit its people who are being targeted by Police for protesting blasphemy. Leaving now for Delhi as per strong request from senior officials. We will continue fighting back against this undemocratic behaviour,” tweeted the three-time MP from Kerala.
Reports said that the MP and other leaders resorted to protest after they were prevented from visiting region’s Muslims and detained by cops.
Families of Muslim youth who were booked and arrested in connection with the Kanpur violence have alleged that the several men have been picked up simply because they were Muslims. Though the police is calling the incident a clash between two sides – Muslims and Hindus – the all arrestees are Muslims. At least 54 Muslims were held till Friday.
The city witnessed violence last Friday after a Hindu mob attacked a protest led by Muslims against the derogatory comments of BJP leader Nupur Sharma on prophet Muhammed.
Last Friday, a Muslim organisation called to shut down shops at the Parade Market – one of the biggest wholesale markets in the city – over the comments made by Sharma about in a televised debate. The clashes began when the Hindu groups started hurling stones at protesting Muslims. Videos showed the Hindu mob attacking Muslims in the presence of cops.
On June 4, police had registered three FIRs against more than 1,000 unknown persons, out of which 55 people have been named as accused, all of whom are Muslims, according to The Wire.
Last day, the city police has released the pictures of 40 “rioters.”
All the 40 men are from Muslim community, a local activist said to Maktoob.
The Kanpur Police on Wednesday arrested three Muslim youth associated with the Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the Kanpur violence, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 54.
“The three, identified as Saifullah, Mohammad Naseem and Mohammad Umar, with affiliation to PFI, were identified in 2019. They had also been arrested during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019,” Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena told reporters.
