New Delhi: Protests broke out in some states on Friday including outside Delhi’s Jama Masjid over the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by two now-suspended BJP functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen.
In Delhi, the protesters massed outside the historic Jama Masjid after the Friday prayers demanding the arrest of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Some of the people, who gathered on the steps of the mosque, carried placards and shouted slogans against Sharma and Naveen Jindal, former head of the Delhi BJP’s media unit.
Senior police officials said the protest was held peacefully and lasted for 15 to 20 minutes. The protesters were later dispersed from the area.
Some policemen were injured while trying to control demonstrators near Hanuman Temple situated on Ranchi’s Main Road. Police fired in air and resorted to baton charge to control the protesters who spilled out on the road after the Friday prayers and pelted stones and shouted slogans.
Police officials said the protests were continuing since morning and picked up tempo post-Friday prayers. Many shops and establishments kept their shutters down in protest against the contorversial remarks.
Protests also broke out at several places in Uttar Pradesh with sloganeering taking place in Saharanpur, Moradabad, Rampur and Lucknow.
In the Atala area of Prayagraj, people raised slogans and pelted stones after the Friday prayers ended.
Members of the Muslim community staged protests in several cities of Maharashtra though no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.
In Panvel city in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, at least 3,000 protesters including around 1,000 women took out a protest march, seeking the arrest of Sharma and Jindal.
A delegation submitted a memorandum to Panvel tehsildar and the protest was over peacefully by 4 pm, said a local police official.
A protest was also held at Shivaji Chowk in Vashi, where a delegation submitted their demands to the Vashi Police Station. Similar protest gatherings or marches were held in Thane, Aurangabad, Solapur, Nandurbar, Parbhani, Beed, Latur, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Pune districts.
Meanwhile, a complaint was filed at a court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar against Sharma, Jindal and religious leader Swami Yati Narsinghanand by a social activist against their inflammatory statements.
The BJP on Sunday suspended Sharma and Jindal for their derogatory comments on the Prophet after they stoked a furore including in the Arab world.
