Protests in AMU, several parts of UP against Narsinghanand's remarks

PTi, Ghaziabad: Protests were held on Monday in several parts of Uttar Pradesh, including the Aligarh Muslim University, demanding arrest and strict punishment for controversial priest Yati Narshinganand over his remarks against Prophet Muhammad. Also, Uttar Pradesh police arrested 13 people in Saharanpur for stone pelting at the Sheikhpura Qadeem police post during a protest on Sunday, and another four for violence on Friday outside the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad which is headed by Narsinghanand. In Moradabad, Lok Sabha MP Ruchi Veera reached the collectorate on Monday with her supporters and handed over a memorandum addressed to the President in which she demanded strict action against Narsinghanand, city magistrate Kinshuk Srivastava said.

"Why Yogi Adityanath's bulldozer justice was not implemented under the zero- tolerance policy against the Mahant who made the hateful statement," the Samajwadi Party MP said. Describing the incidents of stone pelting at different places over the priest's statement as unfortunate, she appealed to the people not to take the law into their hands and said that everyone should exercise restraint. "Because India is a country of 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb', we have to live in brotherhood," she said. In Bahraich, a delegation of Jamiat Ulema led by its district unit president Quari Juber submitted a memorandum to District Magistrate Monica Rani, demanding that stringent provisions of the law should be invoked against Narsinghanand.

The memorandum stated that Section 302 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) of BNS under which the police have registered the case is generally used for minor hate speech, under which the maximum punishment is one year, Juber told reporters. He demanded stringent punishment for Narsinghanand. "Narsinghanand has hatched a despicable conspiracy to defame Islam, which has caused deep resentment in the Muslim community.... Peace, love, and brotherhood cannot be established in the country as long as such people are there," he said. Hundreds of students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) took out a protest march on the campus against Narshinganand's remarks amid heavy deployment of police and PAC personnel. The protestors marched from Duckpoint crossing inside campus and up to Babey Sir Syed Gate and handed over a memorandum to district officials.