On Thursday, Talaiya Police, Bhopal, filed an FIR against Congress MLA Arif Masood and others under Section 153 (hurting religious sentiments) of IPC. The case was filed against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during a protest he had organized at Iqbal ground against French President Macron.
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— News18 India (@News18India) November 5, 2020
भोपाल में कांग्रेस MLA आरिफ़ मसूद पर FIR दर्ज. विधायक पर नफ़रत फैलाने का आरोप.#Bhopal #Congress #MLA #ArifMasoos Building #Demolished @gayatrisharma24 pic.twitter.com/RDC8rJKhDq
Complaint against Masood
The FIR was registered against Masood based on the complaint by Deepak Raghuvanshi of Dharma Sanskriti Samiti. During his protest rally, Masood had allegedly attacked the State and Centre governments and called them ‘Hinduwadi’ as the Centre has shown support to France in the fight against radical Islam. An effigy of the French President and the country’s flag was also burnt during that event.
Non-bailable warrants have been issued for Masood’s arrest. Inspector-General of Police (Bhopal Range) Upendra Jain said, “A non-bailable warrant has been issued against Congress MLA Masood and six others under Section 153A of IPC.”
Masood was arrested earlier
It is to be noted that he was arrested based on another complaint against him for staging the same protest. An FIR was registered against him and 2000 others for violating Covid-19 restrictions. He was released on bail on Saturday.
Illegal building of Masood demolished
As per the reports, the Municipal Corporation of Bhopal has demolished a college building belonging to Arif Masood on the bank of a pond. The corporation demolished around 12,000 square feet of unauthorised construction in the presence of a heavy police force. The High Court had stayed the construction of the main building in 2005. ANI quoted AK Sahani, Assistant Engineer, Building Permission Section, “The honourable district court had, in 2005, issued a stay on the main building here. The construction was done on 12,000 square feet without the permission of the municipal corporation.”
भोपाल में कांग्रेस विधायक आरिफ मसूद के खानूगांव स्थित अवैध निर्माण पर चला बुलडोजर pic.twitter.com/1NWwf5voGE
— NaiDunia (@Nai_Dunia) November 5, 2020
Masood claimed he has a constitutional right to protest
In a statement, Masood had claimed that he has the constitutional right to protest against anyone who speaks against his religion. Under his leadership, while raising chants of Islamic slogans such as ‘Naara-e-Takbeer’, Muslims in Bhopal protested against French President Emmanuel Macron for his alleged ‘Islamophobic’ act. Masood had said that thousands of Muslims had assembled at Iqbal Maidan on Thursday to protest against the French President for speaking ill against Prophet Muhammad.
French President Macron had supported Charlie Hebdo and criticized Islam for its regressive approach. Several protests and attacks had happened in France and other parts of the world against the said cartoons of Prophet Mohammad published by satire magazine Charlie Hebdo in France.
