On Sunday (May 29), the police arrested the President of the Shibli College Student Union for inciting violence against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and the Hindu community over allegations of blasphemy.
The accused, identified as Abdur Rahman, had delivered the contentious speech outside his college gate on Saturday (May 28) night.
In a video clip that has now gone viral on social media, Rahman was heard saying, “She (Nupur Sharma) has committed blasphemy and insulted our Prophet. The situation of Muslims is such that their hands are chopped if the Holy number of ‘786’ is engraved on it or if they post a picture of lynching.”
“But when the honour of our Prophet is compromised, no Muslim comes forward (to avenge it). Why? Because we have become scared, complacent and cowards,” he incited a Muslim gathering.
शिबली नेशनल कालेज आज़मगढ़ के छात्रसंघ अध्यक्ष अब्दुर रहमान भाई को कल शाम शिब्ली नेशनल कॉलेज आज़मगढ़ के गेट पर दिये गए बयान के खिलाफ @azamgarhpolice प्रशासन गिरफ्तार कर के कोतवाली ले गयी है !!!#IStandwithAbdurrahman pic.twitter.com/A6GIGG3A3N
— Shaikh Adil Azmi شیخ عادل اعظمی (@IamShaikhAdil) May 29, 2022
“This is why I appeal to everyone present here to stand up for issues pertaining to our Faith and its last Messenger”, he continued. Amidst chants of Naara-e-Takbeer and Allahu Akbar, Abdur Rahman warned that he is willing to trample 80 crore people (referring to the Hindu community) under his feet.
The crowd, whom the President of Shibli College was addressing, was heard vying for the blood of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. “Gustaak-e-Rasool ki ek hi saza, sarr tann see juda (The only punishment for mocking Prophet Muhammad is beheading)”, a man announced.
After the controversial video went viral on social media, the Azamgarh cyber cell took cognisance of the matter and initiated a probe. According to Azamgarh SP Anurah Arya, Rahman was apprehended and brought in for questioning.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered and the accused was booked for deliberately outraging religious feelings under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 295A.
The Background of the Controversy
BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma has been at the receiving end of a torrent of hate and death threats since appearing on a news debate on Times Now channel on Friday (May 27). During a debate on the disputed Gyanvapi structure, Sharma argued that people can mock Islamic beliefs in response to objectionable remarks against Hinduism.
Following the debate, an alleged fact-checker from Alt News, Mohammed Zubair, shared a clip of the debate out of context, dog-whistling to his 100s of thousands of followers to attack her. Soon, the rape and death threats started to flow targeting not just Nupur Sharma, but her family members as well.
Several others, like journalist Rana Ayyub also joined Zubair later and invoked more hatred against Sharma by accusing her of ‘blasphemy’ leading to a further escalation in the threats.
