Questions raised as Islamic expressions are increasingly being criminalised in states ruled by the BJP
NEW DELHI — Posters reading “I Love Muhammad” and green Islamic flags recovered from a demolished mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal have led to criminal charges against eight Muslims, raising questions over the policing of Islamic expression in BJP-ruled states.
Police filed a case after recovering the posters and flags from the roughly 150-year-old Mustafa Qadri Mosque in Kaserua village, which was demolished over the weekend.
The eight accused include the mosque’s mutawalli, or caretaker. Police said they recovered 49 posters and a green flag bearing a crescent and star during Saturday’s demolition drive.
The FIR, registered at Nakhasa Police Station under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), names mosque mutawalli Zakir and seven members of the mosque committee. Section 353(2) covers the deliberate creation or circulation of false information, rumours, or alarming content intended to promote hatred or enmity between communities.
Sambhal Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Bishnoi said authorities seized the posters and flags and have opened an investigation into who placed them inside the mosque and for what purpose.
“We have taken the posters and flags into custody. It is being investigated who placed them there and for what purpose,” he said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh said legal action was initiated after police recovered what authorities described as “objectionable material” during the demolition. Muslim leaders have questioned that characterisation, noting the items were commonplace Islamic religious expressions found inside mosque premises.
Land Dispute Behind Demolition
The demolition followed a legal dispute over land ownership. Authorities alleged the mosque occupied about 120 square meters of land recorded as cemetery property and said the mosque committee failed to produce documents proving ownership before local revenue authorities. Appeals against the demolition order were unsuccessful.
Locals and mosque representatives dispute the official account, maintaining that the mosque had existed for decades and served worshippers across generations. Before the demolition began, members of the Muslim community gathered to offer prayers inside the mosque amid heavy police deployment.
Wider Debate and Political Reaction
The case has sparked broader debate, with several Muslim leaders arguing that slogans expressing love for Prophet Muhammad, green religious flags, and Islamic symbolism are routine aspects of religious life, not criminal matters or security concerns.
Political criticism intensified after parliamentarian Ziaur Rahman Barq condemned both the demolition and the subsequent FIR. “I will say ‘I Love Muhammad.’ If you have courage, hang me,” he reportedly said.
Barq argued that the demolition violated rights guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution and contravened the Places of Worship Act.
As news of the FIR in Sambhal spread, criticism mounted on social media. Many users questioned why items routinely found inside mosques, including religious literature, Islamic calligraphy, Qur’anic verses, were being treated as matters requiring police investigation.
Author and storyteller Darab Farooqui criticised the action, asking what kind of posters authorities expected to find inside a mosque if not those expressing devotion to Prophet Muhammad. He described the FIR and the mosque demolition as deeply troubling.
Farooqui wrote on his X handle, “Agar Musalman Masjid mein, “I Love Mohammad” ke poster nahin lagayenge to kya JSR ke poster lagayenge? And they sealed the Masjid for that, and registered FIR against 7 Muslims. If this is not a textbook case of Apartheid in Hindu Rashtra then what is?”
Journalist Ashfaq Khan drew a comparison with earlier raids on mosques and madrasas, where sensational claims were later found to be unsupported. Referring to the latest case, he questioned what authorities expected to find in a mosque if not Islamic symbols, religious texts and expressions of faith.
“If there is no poster of “I Love Muhammad” in the mosque, no Islamic flag, no Qur’an Majid, then what else will be left in the mosque? Khan asked.
Adding further, Khan said, “The guardians of the law have turned the law into a farce, meaning we can’t even keep religious items at a place of worship.”
Several users argued that the incident revealed a broader pattern of scrutiny faced by ordinary Muslims in everyday life.
A social media user, Drunk Journalist, said, “This is what Muslims have to bear every day. Masjids sealed. FIRs for possession of I Love Muhammad posters that were stored inside a Masjid.”
Journalist Faizul Haque summed up a sentiment echoed by many online, asking whether simple Islamic posters and flags have become unacceptable and illegal in Uttar Pradesh.
“A Mosque was demolished where the authority seized a poster written ‘I Love Muhammad PBHU’ and some Islamic flags, probe is on. So these simple posters are illegal? Is Islam banned in UP?” Haque wrote.
While police have defended the registration of the FIR and continue to investigate the matter, the controversy has fuelled concerns about religious freedom in the country and the criminalisation of ordinary expressions of faith, particularly those of Muslims.
The incident adds to a growing number of disputes in parts of India where mosque demolitions, Islamic symbols, and public expressions of Muslim identity have intersected with policing, legal battles, and political confrontation. Muslim groups have voiced concern over what they describe as increasing scrutiny of religious expression.
