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An MP delegation of the Samajwadi Party, including Mohibbullah Nadvi, Iqra Hasan, and Harendra Singh Malik, enroute to Bareilly following last week's 'I Love Mohammad' row, was stopped at Ghazipur border by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday.
Visuals showed the members of the delegation arguing with the police personnel deployed to maintain law and order. SP MP Mohibbullah Nadvi told ANI, "... We are being stopped from going to Bareilly. This is unconstitutional... The BJP government first oppresses people with great vengeance and then tries to cover it up..." SP MP Iqra Hasan linked the situation with an "undeclared emergency" and said that their visit does not have an agenda. "We don't understand on what grounds we are being stopped in the way of an undeclared emergency. We request the administration to accompany us. We are not trying to hide anything. We don't have any agendas... I don't know which of its evil deeds the UP government wants to cover up that its not allowing us to go to Bareilly..." This comes against the backdrop of a tense situation prevailing in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent. In response to the unrest, the Bareilly administration suspended mobile internet and broadband services for 48 hours, from 3 pm on October 2 to 3 pm on October 4. A group of people had gathered outside Ala Hazrat Dargah and Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house, holding "I Love Mohammad" placards.The protestors pelted stones at the police during the protest after the Friday prayers. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police conducted flag marches in Kanpur as well to ensure peace during Friday prayers. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashutosh Kumar Singh stated that no problems have arisen thus far. "There is no disorder of any kind here... Police are deployed everywhere." Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81. According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bareilly Anurag Arya informed that Nafees and his son revealed that "everyone was involved in the conspiracy". Meanwhile, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj said that the "I Love Muhammad-Mahadev" is a deliberate attempt to divert attention from more pressing matters. He questioned whether Mahadev is a matter of worship or love, emphasising that such language is disrespectful and not befitting of the deity. "... 'I love Mohammed, I love Mahadev' row has been started to distract the public from the real issues. Is Mahadev a matter of worship or love? This is an insult to Mahadev. I don't know about Mohammed. Those who are with Mohammed may know about him. But is saying, "I love Mahadev," an honour or an insult to Mahadev? This is disrespectful to Mahadev, an insult to Mahadev. We don't use such language with Mahadev...," Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand told ANI. (ANI)
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