Mumbai: Hundreds of thousands of Muslims trooped out on the roads after the customary Friday afternoon 'namaaz' in Aurangabad, Solapur, Raigad, Navi Mumbai and other places of Maharashtra protesting against the blasphemous remarks made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal.
Similar protests were also held Friday in Ahmednagar, Jalna, Beed, Prabhani and some other cities of Maharashtra.
The protestors peacefully marched outside the mosques on the roads, shouted slogans against two BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, demanding their immediate arrest, and condemning the BJP government in New Delhi.
In some places, the marchers halted and burnt photos and effigies of the BJP spokespersons whose outrageous comments against Islam and Muslim have also been condemned by many Arab and Muslim countries worldwide.
Several organisations and political parties, including All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and local groups, organised what were described as "spontaneous protests" by the outraged Muslims after offering the Friday afternoon prayers.
In Aurangabad, AIMIM MP Syed Imtiaz Jaleel joined the protests, plunging headlong into the crowd of several thousands of Muslims without his security personnel around as many raised slogans against the Sharma-Jindal duo.
During the protests, most shops remained shut in these cities, road traffic was paralysed to make way for the marchers but there were no reports of any untoward incidents from anywhere.
State Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil reviewed the situation after the massive state-wide protests against Sharma-Jindal and appealed to the people to maintain calm and avoid creating any law-and-order problems. He added that the state government has taken very serious cognisance of the BJP duo's statements and police have lodged complaints against them which are being probed.
Nupur Sharma is facing an FIR registered by Mumbra police of Thane on June 7 and the police have summoned her for questioning in the matter of blasphemy on June 22.
Movement in Solapur Maharashtra against #NupurSharma pic.twitter.com/r1s0qrXJch— Shaikh Saquib_MIM (@Shaikh_Saquib_) June 10, 2022
Movement in Solapur Maharashtra against #NupurSharma pic.twitter.com/r1s0qrXJch
Police were present in strength in the three cities and also were on watch outside thousands of mosques elsewhere in the state especially Muslim-dominated towns. The massive crowds dispersed peacefully after a couple of hours.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
