Tension has gripped Ahilyanagar in Maharashtra after the “I love Mohammed” slogan written in a rangoli on a road sparked communal tension, and a group of protesters clashed with the police. Cops had to use mild force to bring the situation under control. An FIR has been registered and 30 people have been detained, police have said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that there is a need to investigate if someone is conspiring to disrupt communal peace.
According to a police statement, tension in Ahilyanagar (earlier Ahmednagar) was triggered this morning by a road rangoli that had “I love Mohammed” written on it. “During Navratri celebrations, someone had made a Rangoli with some objectionable elements against the Muslim community. After noticing the objectionable content of the Rangoli, people of the community reached the police station and lodged their complaint,” the statement said.
Police added that an FIR was registered and a person arrested for allegedly making the rangoli, but the protesters were not convinced and blocked a highway in protest.
“After half an hour, when the police tried to convince them to end their protest, they started throwing stones. In response to that, the police had to resort to a mild lathi charge. The crowd was dispersed, and the area is peaceful now. An FIR has also been registered, and 30 people have been detained by Ahilyanagar police,” police said.
Chief Minister Fadnavis warned against a conspiracy to foment communal tensions. “I was travelling, so I do not know what exactly happened. But I would like to say that we must investigate if there is a conspiracy behind this. Is someone trying to disrupt communal harmony? During the Lok Sabha election, similar attempts to polarise were made. We will have to investigate this,” he said.
The ‘I Love Mohammed’ slogan made headlines earlier this month when an FIR was filed against 24 people in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur for allegedly installing boards with ‘I Love Muhammad’ written on them during an Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi procession on September 4.
Hindu groups objected to this, calling it a “deliberate provocation”. In the weeks that followed, ‘I Love Mohammed’ posters and slogans have come up in several parts of the country.
