Prophet remarks row: Protests escape throughout India; curfew, shutdown in J&Okay

By PTI

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Protests broke out in some states on Friday together with outdoors Delhi’s Jama Masjid over the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by two now-suspended BJP functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a couple of policemen whereas authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in few areas and elements of Kashmir noticed a shutdown.

In Delhi, the protesters massed outdoors the historic Jama Masjid after the Friday prayers demanding the arrest of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

Some of the individuals, who gathered on the steps of the mosque, carried placards and shouted slogans towards Sharma and Naveen Jindal, former head of the Delhi BJP’s media unit.

Senior police officers stated the protest was held peacefully and lasted for 15 to twenty minutes.

The protesters have been later dispersed from the world.

Some policemen have been injured whereas making an attempt to regulate demonstrators close to Hanuman Temple located on Ranchi’s Main Road.

Police fired in air and resorted to baton cost to regulate the protesters who spilled out on the street after the Friday prayers and pelted stones and shouted slogans.

Police officers stated the protests have been persevering with since morning and picked up tempo post-Friday prayers.

Many outlets and institutions saved their shutters down in protest towards the contorversial remarks.

Tension mounted in Jammu’s Bhaderwah and a few areas of Kishtwar prompting authorities to impose curfew whereas elements of Kashmir noticed a shutdown.

Internet providers have been snapped within the Bhaderwah and Kishtwar cities and Srinagar metropolis of Kashmir as a precautionary measure.

Mobile Internet was additionally suspended in elements of Kashmir, officers stated.

Sporadic incidents of stone-pelting have been reported in Bhaderwah city.

Some individuals, violating restrictions, got here out on the streets and threw stones at safety forces whereas elevating slogans.

In Srinagar, protests have been held at Lal Chowk, Batamaloo, Tengpora and different locations with the demonstrators holding placards.

Protests additionally broke out at a number of locations in Uttar Pradesh with sloganeering happening in Saharanpur, Moradabad, Rampur and Lucknow.

In the Atala space of Prayagraj, individuals raised slogans and pelted stones after the Friday prayers ended.

Members of the Muslim group staged protests in a number of cities of Maharashtra although no untoward incident was reported from wherever.

In Panvel metropolis in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, not less than 3,000 protesters together with round 1,000 girls took out a protest march, looking for the arrest of Sharma and Jindal.

A delegation submitted a memorandum to Panvel tehsildar and the protest was over peacefully by 4 pm, stated an area police official.

A protest was additionally held at Shivaji Chowk in Vashi, the place a delegation submitted their calls for to the Vashi Police Station.

Similar protest gatherings or marches have been held in Thane, Aurangabad, Solapur, Nandurbar, Parbhani, Beed, Latur, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Pune districts.

Meanwhile, a grievance was filed at a court docket in Muzaffarpur in Bihar towards Sharma, Jindal and non secular chief Swami Yati Narsinghanand by a social activist towards their inflammatory statements.

The BJP on Sunday suspended Sharma and Jindal for his or her derogatory feedback on the Prophet after they stoked a furore together with within the Arab world.