“All over India, a total of 4,505 Muslims have been booked. And 265 Muslims in India, including 89 in Bareilly, have been arrested till 7 October,” stated a recent report by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), released on Friday, 10 October.
A fact-finding report has alleged disproportionate police action and administrative targeting of Muslims in Bareilly following the “I Love Muhammad” demonstration led by Muslim scholar Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan.
The report, compiled by APCR, a team of lawyers and civil society members, claims that the peaceful protest was met with lathi charge, mass arrests, and property seizures carried out arbitrarily and without due legal process.
According to the report, the protest, organised to submit a memorandum to local authorities, was entirely peaceful, involving no slogans, vandalism, or violence.
Similar demonstrations had previously been held without incident. However, police allegedly resorted to force without warning, dispersing participants through a sudden lathi charge and mass detentions.
Following the crackdown, paramilitary and additional police forces (PAC, RRF) were deployed across Muslim-majority neighbourhoods, and internet services were suspended for 48 hours, leading to widespread economic disruption and fear.
Two days after the protest, on 29 September, the administration sealed 32 shops in Mazaar Pehalwaan Market, a registered Waqf property (Waqf No. 383).
The fact-finding report states that the sealing was carried out without prior notice or documentation, despite a standing stay order issued by the Waqf Tribunal.
The market, managed by the local Waqf Committee for a long time, is currently under litigation. However, tenants have remained in peaceful possession.
Shopkeepers said they regularly pay rent to the Waqf Board and alleged that the sealing was a punitive act linked to the protest.
The operation was reportedly conducted under heavy police presence, “amplifying fear and discouraging dissent.”
Lawyers interviewed by the team estimate that by 7 October, at least 89 Muslims had been arrested in Bareilly, with more detained informally from their homes. Maktoob had reported on this earlier.
They alleged that arrest memos were not issued, FIR copies were withheld, and families were not informed of their relatives’ whereabouts.
Local sources also alleged that minors were among those detained, though their current location and access to legal aid remain unclear.
“People were picked up without being told why. Even lawyers weren’t given access to case papers,” said a member of the fact-finding team.
The report further documents targeted administrative actions against Muslim community figures, including demolitions and sealing of properties associated with clerics and activists, many carried out under conditions of restricted internet access.
It observed a stark divide in the city’s atmosphere: Muslim localities were heavily patrolled and subdued, while Hindu-majority areas remained unaffected and active.
The team concluded that the state response displayed a “pattern of collective punishment and institutional bias” against Muslims.
It found “credible testimony” suggesting suppression of religious expression, arbitrary arrests, and censorship.
The report noted, “Authorities exercised aggressive and disproportionate measures in response to a peaceful protest. Legal norms for arrest, notice, and due process were ignored, amounting to human rights violations.”
The report called for dialogue between the Muslim community, authorities, and independent mediators; a judicial inquiry into the police crackdown, arrests, and property seizures; and intervention by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to probe human rights violations.
It urged disciplinary action against officers involved in excessive force and illegal arrests, and the release of all detainees held in violation of legal guidelines.
The report also appealed to civil society to resist the criminalisation of Muslim religious expression and to hold local officials accountable for punitive demolitions and sealing drives.
The “I Love Muhammad” demonstration in Bareilly was part of a series of peaceful gatherings led by Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan.
Following the event, police filed ten FIRs and arrested several of his associates, including Dr. Nafis Khan, a member of the local Waqf Management Committee.
The situation in Bareilly remains tense, with continued police deployment and growing calls for transparency and justice across the state.
