BJP Youth Leader Arrested for Comments on Prophet 4 Days After Kanpur Violence

Security personnel patrol to maintain law and order amid communal tension, in the wake of Fridays violence, in Kanpur.

(Photo: PTI)

A BJP youth wing functionary was arrested on Tuesday, 7 June, for inflammatory comments on Kanpur violence, a few days after clashes in the city over remarks made by BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Muhammad.

Harshit Srivastav was arrested for his inflammatory tweet on the Kanpur incident. An FIR was registered at Colonelganj police station in the city.

A copy of the FIR was accessed by The Quint.

“An objectionable and controversial post was made by him. The police rapidly took action and filed a case on the relevant sections against him, on the basis of which an arrest was made,“ Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena said.

The violence broke out in Pared, Nai Sadak, and Yateemkhana areas of the city on Friday, 3 June, when some people tried to force shopkeepers to bring down shutters following Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma's comments against Prophet Muhammad.

Sharma made the controversial remark during a Times Now show about the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute on 26 May. Three FIRs have been filed against Sharma for her comments.

UP Additional Director-General (ADG) Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, explained how the clash unfolded, "Some Muslim organisations had called for a 'bandh' in protest against Nupur Sharma's remark.

Police Commissioner Meena was quoted as saying, "We will investigate if they (accused) had any links with the PFI (Popular Front of India), which had called for a closure (of shops) in Manipur and West Bengal on the same day."

"Documents related to the Social Democratic Party of India and the Campus Front of India were also found during searches at the premises of Hayat Zafar Hashmi," he said.

Four FIRs have been filed so far, out of which, two were filed by the authorities and one on behalf of an injured person, police sources had earlier told The Quint. The FIRs name at least 56 people, while 1,000 accused who currently remain unidentified have been booked.