Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Mata Prasad Pandey, was placed under house arrest in Lucknow after he was meant to lead a Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation to meet with the families in Bareilly.
A 14-member delegation was formed under the instructions of SP national president Akilesh Yadav. The team was tasked with assessing the situation in the area and meeting with the Bareilly DIG and Commissioner to address their concerns.
A heavy police presence was deployed outside Pandey's Lucknow residence, and he was detained. “If the collector had written, I would have accepted it. In the backdrop of the protests,” he said while speaking to ANI. Pandey said he was told in a letter from the Bareilly district magistrate that the delegation's visit would “spoil the atmosphere”. He alleged that the they were doing this to “hide their own shortcomings, they are not allowing us to go there. We will now talk to our party members and decide accordingly."
UP LoP Mata Prasad Pandey stopped from visiting Bareilly amid tensions over "I Love Mohammad" row
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The team includes several prominent SP MPs and former MLAs, including Harendra Malik from Muzaffarnagar, Iqra Hasan from Kairana, Ziaur Rahman Barq from Sambhal, Mohibullah Nadvi from Rampur, Neeraj Maurya, former MP Virpal Singh Yadav, Praveen Singh Aron, and others.
A notice has been posted at Mata Prasad's house, citing Section 163 in Bareilly. The administration has appealed to the team not to visit Bareilly. Iqra, Hasan, and Bark are also named in the notice.
The objective of the SP delegation was to document the incident and investigate the events that occurred on September 26th when the Muslim community attempted to peacefully submit a memorandum to the District magistrate. The party alleged that the police the brutally lathi-charged innocent people and injured them.
81 people were also jailed after the incident.
After the delegations met the DIG and Commissioner, they were to submit a report to the state office based on which the party would decide its future strategy.
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Meanwhile, the Bareilly administration had stated that no political party would be allowed into the district as Section 163 is still in effect. The administration cited that the situation in the district was sensitive and that any political activity could disrupt the peace. Local media reported that, according to sources the administration will block any political leader from leaving their homes.
Internet in the district is still suspended after last week's violence, which broke out after the I Love Muhammad" protests on September 26. Heavy security forces were deployed to the areas, and drone surveillance is underway. The city was divided into super zones, zones, and sectors. Officials were deployed at sensitive areas, especially around mosques, while religious leaders appealed to people on Friday to return straight to their homes after offering prayers. |
