To prevent new violence and to keep the peace, the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh has cut off the internet access and arrested a high-profile local cleric, Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan. It came after bloody confrontations on September 26, 2025, during a scheduled demonstration in favor of the disrespectful campaign; I Love Muhammad campaign.
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The Day of Strife: How the Bloodshed Began.
The conflict started when the Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) with Maulana Tauqeer Raza at the helm, invited a massive rally at the Islamia Ground following the weekly prayer at the mosque on Fridays. The primary goal was to present a formal note to the government, complaining against police cases filed in other components of Uttar Pradesh in regard to the public display of boards with the word I Love Muhammad that took place during a recent religious procession.
But the local government failed to permit the meeting. The government highlighted that there is already a law in place in the district termed as Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that prohibits any form of public gathering without any official permission.
This rejection notwithstanding, an enormous assembly besieged the Kotwali mosque and the home of Raza with posters inscribed with the words I Love Muhammad. Police attempted to calm down the crowd and to request that they go home calmly. According to the officials, the majority of the people started to move but a group of trouble makers got violent.
Soon violence and stone-pelting broke out, and the police had to exercise only mild measures, such as a lathi-charge, to clear the mob. The riots extended to places around the Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat and people became afraid. First-hand accounts of the incident include stones and broken glass in the streets, cars and other shops in the neighborhood broken. Several outlets in the most important markets such as Civil Lines and Bada Bazaar were soon closed. The fights injured several officers of the police force. Police claim that the whole story was a conspiracy that had been planned, to bring about unrest.
The Crackdown: Arrest and The Security Measures.
After the violence, Bareilly police were quick to restore order. On Saturday morning, the IMC head and one of the most influential religious and political leaders, Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan was arrested. He was subsequently placed on 14 days on judicial custody. He was the primary suspect identified by the police who claimed that he organized and orchestrated the violence and mobilized his supporters with the help of an online toolkit. There were also seven other prominent personalities who were arrested.
To prevent the proliferation of fake news and curb the situation, the district administration has blocked all mobile internet, SMS and broadband services in Bareilly. This was a 48-hour ban that was later extended out of precaution measures to avoid additional trouble.
The police have already filed 10 First Information Report (FIRs) and arrested close to 40 individuals based on video and CCTV footage to locate individuals who participated in the rioting. Massive security units and riot police were sent to the sensitive areas of the city and a flag march- a demonstration of force- was carried out, to show the people that law and order had returned.
Who is Tauqeer Raza Khan: A Figure of Influence.
Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan is not only a political leader, but a very significant cleric of the Barelvi Sunni community, which has strength in Bareilly region. He is the descendant of the founder of the Barelvi sect, Ahmed Raza Khan commonly known as Aala Hazrat.
Raza is the head of the political party, Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC). He is quite a long time political participant, and he has occasionally allied with parties such as the congress or Samajwadi Party. Nevertheless, he is not the first person to be controversial. He was sentenced to a jail term in 2010 over claims that he had instigated violence in another procession and in turn provoked a long curfew in sections of Bareilly. He is influential and his arrest is a big news in the local politics.
The Controversy and Reactions Two Sides of the Story
The cause of the disagreement is the I Love Muhammad campaign. To most Muslims, the slogan is a mere statement of religious piety. The Bareilly protest was to protest against the police charges made against individuals who carried these boards to other cities such as Kanpur.
In a video released before his arrest, Maulana Tauqeer Raza said he was thrown into a false house arrest and that he was not allowed to speak to his followers. He said that the police were forcing their way into the Muslims and the government was attempting to hold back a religious issue.
In the meantime, the government is becoming tough. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave a warning that there would not be any Anarchy and whoever attempted to interfere with law and order would not be spared. The police leaders always described the event as an organized conspiracy.
A fall out politically is also apparent. The actions of police were criticized by opposition parties, which believed that these were discriminatory against a certain community. On another occasion, local Hindu groups in a demonstration of local tension, erected posters with the words I Love Mahadev in particular parts of the city.
Impact and Path Forward
The announcements are extremely strained. Suspension of the internet has an impact of thousands of persons and it becomes hard to study and to run a business. The main streets are still dominated by the heavy presence of the police.
The arrest of the key cleric and dozens of individuals detained is sending a strong signal of zero tolerance to violence by the authorities. The future problem facing Bareilly will be to restore the confidence between the administration and the community to ensure that the community is at peace without compromising the freedom of expression of religious beliefs. The Bareilly incidents indicate how delicate a balance is needed to handle sensitive religious matters in the area.
The city awaits the reconnection of the internet and the further developments in the case against Maulana Raza, all the time a massive search by the police government agencies is going on to identify others who were involved in the violent protest. The threat by the state government is serious and it is evident that the threat of disruption will not be entertained.
