(In particular reference to Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani’s essay on helping the oppressed prisoners in Sham-e-Feroza Column)

We read news items every now and then in various media outlets about the respect acquittal of a number of Muslim who had been charged, tried and ultimately acquitted on the ground of lacking evidence so there is he need of helping the oppressed prisoners. Such cases are numerous in which the police made out false cases sending innocent Indian Muslims behind bar ruining their lives and families because they were lastly found to be not guilty of charges alleged by the police against them. According to some reports, about ten thousand Muslim youth of the country are behind bar, majority of which is educated and they were bread earners of their respective families. We can easily perceive hardships, trauma and uncertainties being faced by their parents, wives, brothers and sisters and their near and dear ones. Hopefully, some Muslim organizations are rendering valuable services in rescuing the innocent victims of the State and other adverse forces and there is a pressing need to organize these efforts into a dedicated campaign so that the maximum number of prisoners victim of the system could be rescued; rehabilitated and the guilty persons could be brought to justice.

Approaching the Judiciary:

Communalism has penetrated deep in the very fabric of the country prevailing in each sector of human activities, which had led to the need of helping the oppressed prisoners and the judiciary in the country still sustains a hope among the people working for helpless prisoners as they get justice though not full justice because of slow trial wasting a considerable part of the victim’s life. Hence, we must take active part in those cases, in which the Muslims are wrongfully charged and subjected to torture approaching courts strongly pleading their stance and innocence:

Helping Prisoners after Acquittal:

In India, judicial system is not so prompt deciding cases within reasonable span of time. Years and decades pass on and the police deliberately cause delay for various reasons and the persons persecuted in the name of law & order and security of the nation loose many precious years of their life in jail facing even torture in some cases, which render them incapable for normal course of existence and they become so notorious due to the undue media coverage that employers do not want to employee them. Therefore, mere acquittal of the innocent prisoners is not enough. There must be an effective system of the State and judiciary to redress injustices meted out on them. Proper compensation, certificate of being a good citizen and suitable employment must be provided and if the Government and judiciary do not do anything in this behalf, the concerned citizens of the country, responsible persons of the community and other kinds of organizations can devise a mechanism for helping unfortunate prisoners victim of false cases and subject to injustices of the state machinery.

Responsibility of the Community in the light of Islam:

The prophet of Islam (PBUH) has vehemently insisted upon helping the oppressed prisoners and victim of injustices in various sayings. It has been stated in one of sayings (Ahadith) that a Muslim is a brother of other Muslims. He neither oppresses his brothers nor does he tolerate his brothers being oppressed.

Steps to be taken for helping the Muslims:

A question arises, what measures and steps can be taken in respect of helping the oppressed prisoners. One of them is rescuing and getting the persons who have been falsely implicated in the fabricated cases to be acquitted and helped for normal life. In the saying narrated by Hazrat Musa Ashari in Bukhari, the Prophet of Islam says: “Feed the hungry, attend the sick and enlarge the prisoner.” Such measures can be summarized as per below:

A.     Pressing the politicians and local representatives: All Muslims in the unanimous voice and unity must exert pressure on the local politicians and political agents that they would vote in their favor only if they would extend their cooperation in rescuing the innocent Muslim youth charged falsely reminding them of legislation enacted by the legislature and their local obligations.

B.     Peaceful Protests: Peaceful public protests and demonstrations and such other measures have high importance in the countries ruled on the principles of democracy. Therefore, the organized protests must be organized peacefully in every nook and corner of the country in such matters and rallies also must launched adhering rules of the land. Protesting letters be written and every perceivable pressure be exerted to achieve this noble cause.

C.     Establishment of Legal Cell: Legal cells should be established on central as well as state level to help the oppressed prisoners and victims of injustices. Muslim advocates must render their free services or on the reduced costs for this great cause. The secularist non-Muslim advocates and persons working in the field of human rights be contacted and convinced to extend their support and services. The Muslims who have wealth at their disposal must support these causes financially. The objectives of such legal remedies must not be limited only to get the victims acquitted but they must aim also at bringing the police responsible for such injustices within the purview of crime and punishment.

D.     Proper Care of Victim’s Family: The family of the prisoners must be cared of in daily household chorus, free education of their children in religious or secular educational institutions, marriage arrangement and wedding expenses of their daughters, tackling employment issues of their dependents. It be noted that the vast Muslim population of the country can easily afford it.     

E.     Establishment of an institute / organization / society / board for achieving such objectives: As to helping the oppressed prisoners, there is a pressing need to establish an institute / organization / society / board on the model of All India Personal Board or other effective such organizations only for seeking the blessings of the Almighty Allah not for fame and fortune.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE

We must take note that numerous communal riots, incidents of expulsions and arrest of innocent Muslim youth in large number is not by chance but by planned conspiracy with objectives in mind to demoralize and dishearten the Muslim Community in India marginalizing, insulting and subjecting them to complex psychological disorder of inferiority complex. They are also a part of campaign to keep the Muslim Community in India poor, illiterate, ashamed of their history and indifferent to their religion. Therefore, if we do not act with wisdom of the believers, courage, endurance, Islamic brotherhood, seeking help from the Almighty Allah, good treatment of the country brethren, we would fail and our future would become bleaker and bleaker with passage of time. Helping the oppressed prisoners is the religious obligation as well.

• SMRITI IRANI ON ROHINGYA IN HYDERABAD
• About Us
• BANGALORE RIOT 2020
• Maulana Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi and His Academic Endeavors
• BIG ROLE OF GURU GOLWALKAR IN THE EVOLEMENT OF THE RSS

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad arrested Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui in Meerut on Tuesday night 21.09.2021 on charges of alleged illegal religious conversions according to several media outlets. Maulana Siddiqui is president of Global Peace Center and Jamia Imam Waliullah Trust

The Anti-Terrorist Squad claimed that Kaleem Siddiqui was running India’s “biggest religious conversion syndicate”. Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said the Anti Terrorist Squad found that Siddiqui’s Jamia Imam Waliullah Trust was conducting illegal religious conversions in the name of running “communal harmony” programs.

Kumar said that the investigation by the Anti-Terrorist Squad revealed Kaleem Siddiqui’s role in the racket. He alleged that Siddiqui used to threaten and mislead people for conversion and prepared them for dawah, the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam.

Kumar alleged that the trust of Kaleem Siddiqui received huge amounts of foreign funds. “Investigation shows Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui’s trust received Rs 3 crore in foreign funding including Rs 1.5 crore from Bahrain,” Kumar claimed, according to ANI.

He claimed that Siddiqui used to fund madrasas and received money through illegal means for this. The police officer further claimed that Kaleem Siddiqui distributed his self-written literature for free for the purpose of conversion.

“He was trying to ensure that people believe that only shariyat arrangement could give justice to them,” the police officer alleged. “He used to emphasize that issues like Triple Talaq should be dealt under the light of shariyat.”

Muslim Community has heavily condemned the action. One prominent politician from the Community said “Famous Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui Sahab has been arrested ahead of the elections in Uttar Pradesh,” he said on Twitter. “The atrocities on Muslims are increasing. The silence of secular parties on these issues is giving more strength to the BJP. How much more will BJP fall to win the UP elections?”

• BANGALORE RIOT 2020
• Muslims have full faith in the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar: Ghulam Rasool Balyawi
• Safoora Zargar and Right-Wing Trolls against Her
• Hindus have no right to claim the Mathura Idgah
• SIGNIFICANCE OF MOHAN BHAGWAT’S ADDRESS ON THE OCCASION OF VIJAYDHASHMI – 2020

s

Fall of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan by Taliban forces occurred on 15 August 2021. At around 11:00 pm local time, President Ashraf Ghani posted on Facebook that he had fled in an attempt to avoid a bloody battle and that “the Taliban have won with the judgment of their swords and guns”. It was the culmination of a military offensive that began in May 2021 against the Afghan government. The capture took place hours after Ghani fled the country. Most of the provincial capitals of Afghanistan had fallen in succession in the midst of a U.S. troop withdrawal that started on 29 February 2020 and is projected to be completed by 31 August 2021.

Negotiations are ongoing between a Taliban delegation and Afghan officials, although it appears unlikely that they will end in anything less than an unconditional fall of Kabul by the government. A peaceful transfer of power has been requested by the Taliban, and the government has declared its willingness to abide by this, preferring a transfer of power to a transitional government, while the Taliban seeks a direct assumption by them of the power of government. Some NATO forces remain, providing security for the evacuation of their countries’ nationals.

The Taliban and allied militant groups began a widespread offensive on 1 May 2021, concurrent with the withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Following its rapid defeat across the country, the Afghan National Army was left in chaos, and only two units remained operational by mid-August: The 201st Corps and 111th Division, both based in Kabul. The capital city itself was left encircled after Taliban forces had captured Mihtarlam, Sharana, Gardez, Asadabad, and other cities as well as districts in the east. In the days preceding the fall, the projection for the situation of Kabul rapidly worsened. U.S. officials forecasted in early August that Kabul could hold out for several months, but the week of the fall brought more grim forecasting; five days before the Taliban reached Kabul, expectations degraded and analysis suggested the capital would last “30 to 90 days”, and within two days, officials were suggesting Kabul would fall within the week.

• O. ABDURRAHMAN, GROUP EDITOR OF MADHYAMAM DAILY – MEDIAONE
• THE IRONY OF USHA THAKUR‘S STATEMENT
• Kazimar Street Madurai, an Islamic Heritage Street

Source: Wiki

Humayun Kabir IPS was the Commissioner of Chandannagar. He joined the Trinimol Congress only three months before his retirement citing personal reasons. He got the ticket of the Assembly constituency Debra of the West Midinipur District of West Bengal, a part of Ghatal Parliamentary Constituency. His parents Arsad Ali and Jinatun Begum still live here.

The role of Humayun Kabir IPS as Chandannagar Police Commissioner came to the limelight when he arrested three Bhartiya Janata Party activists, who were allegedly raised the slogan “Golo Maro” at a rally on 21^st January, 2021. It was gathered at a road-show led by the BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who left TMC last year and followed the saffron brigade.

Humayun Kabir won the seat in an interesting electoral battle between two super cops as the BJP had fielded Bharat Ghosh, Vice-President of the saffron Party and ex-IPS Officer.

Direction of Movie Aaliya

Apart from politics, Humayun Kabir has interests in the creative and literary world as well. He has directed the movie Aaleya.

“To spread mass awareness on social issues which he was not always free to do in his official capacity, former IPS officer Humayun Kabir turns director for Aaleya exploring the unjustified custom of triple talaq.”

Filmmaker Aniket Chattopadhyay is creative director of this ambitious project and Humayun Kabir has directed it. The screenplay is by Padmanava Dasgupta. Aaleya is concerned with a strong woman question around the unfair practice of one-sided triple talaq pronounced by a Muslim husband when he wants to divorce his wife. Aaleya is a minor Muslim girl who is married against her wishes to a man of her parents’ choice.

https://www.thestatesman.com/supplements/marquee/questioning-unfair-practice-1502655303.html

She questions the one-sided custom, legitimised by Muslim marriage laws, that when the bride has the right to say “kabul” during the nikaah ceremony, why is she not given the same right in case of talaq? How and why does the husband have the right to utter talaq thrice, according to his wish on an impulse or on the spur of the moment and reduce his wife’s life into debris she cannot come out of? But instead of getting an answer, she is punished by the powers-that-be.

She questions the one-sided custom, legitimised by Muslim marriage laws, that when the bride has the right to say “kabul” during the nikaah ceremony, why is she not given the same right in case of talaq? How and why does the husband have the right to utter talaq thrice, according to his wish on an impulse or on the spur of the moment and reduce his wife’s life into debris she cannot come out of? But instead of getting an answer, she is punished by the powers-that-be.

• Privacy Policy
• NISHRIN HUSSAIN JAFRI, SURVIVOR OF GUJARAT 2002 VIOLENCE
• Dr Shamim Ahmad, MLA from Narkatia 12 Assembly Constituency: An Ideal Leader
• Syed Sajjad Zaheer: The Writer of One Night in London

My sister & I have been brought up by a single parent, as my father has never been there for us, emotionally or financially. He never even knew which class we are studying in – clear from his letter which says that “Shehla was in last semester of Ph.D. of Sociology in 2017.” Even a cursory Google search would have given him more information about what stage of study I’m in! He says that I run 3 NGOs – this shows how involved in my life he is! Anyone who follows me even remotely knows that I’m not associated with any NGO. He keeps saying that my account should be probed, but he doesn’t even know what my account number is. There’s never been a single transaction from his account to mine ever. He keeps saying that he met me in 2017. In 2017, I had chickenpox and my sister begged him to see me. But he clearly refused to see me. After this incident, my sister stopped talking to him completely. Truth is, he has just been a parasite, exploiting my mother financially, abusing her physically and verbally. My mother has served the govt for 32 years in the capacity of a high ranking govt official, and she’s brought us up with her Halal income, with her blood, sweat and tears. She is our mother & father. She’s been there for us despite everything, loved us unconditionally and been extremely protective towards us. She even put up with abuse for so long, simply so that we have a father- even if it is just for appearance’s sake! This political stunt by my father is a brazen attempt to pressure us into withdrawing the case of Domestic Violence in which we are not merely applicants, but also witnesses. In fact, these tactics amount to witness intimidation. We are sorry that we could not protect our mother while we were kids. But we won’t back down now, whatever the cost.

(Via her facebook post)

What an irony! As per the widely believed theory, MIM of Hyderabad helped BJP far away in Bihar to win Legislative Assembly Election 2020. His party snatched five seats from secular forces for the communal ones. Now the ruling party and its stalwarts are determined to weaken Asaduddin Owaisi in his stronghold in Telangana. After Tejasvi Surya, the Union Minister of Textiles found fault with TRS for not taking action against MIM for allegedly helping Rohingya Refugees obtain voter cards with recommendations printed on their party’s letterhead. She alleged. Smriti Irani repeated the old reason of safety and security to take action against Rohingya in Hyderabad.

Rohingya Genocide

It is a significant fact to note here that the Rohingya is the most persecuted community on the earth. They are facing genocide by the Myanmar Government. The crisis forced over a million Rohingya to flee to other countries and a substantial number of them came to India, which is the place of their ancestors. 

Rohingya in Hyderabad

Telangana Government had informed the Centre in the year gone that there were 6,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees in the state. About 18,000 Rohingya refugees registered with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are living in India. Of them, 4,000 of them have found a home in Hyderabad in refugee camps in the city’s Balapur area.

Helping Rohingya is helping humanity, helping the most persecuted persons on the earth. If Asaduddin Owaisi is helping Rohingya in their time of distress, it is not a crime but Smriti Irani and other BJP leaders can bear anything but any concern for Muslims here in India or anywhere else.

In reality, Smriti Irani and others belonging to her party know well and have experienced the formula of polarization. She wants to garner votes in GHMC election to come inciting the feelings of Hindu brothers in the name of the Rohingya in Hyderabad.

Ahmedbhai Mohammedbhai Patel, better known as Ahmed Patel was born on 21s August has passed away on 25^th November 2020. A veteran Congress Leader and confident of its patron, he was political secretary to Sonia Gandhi. He is widely credited with the party’s performance in the 2004 and 2009 General elections.

His Legacy –

Patel has represented Gujarat for eight terms in Parliament of India; three times in the lower house (1977 – 1989) and five times in the upper House (1993 – 2020). He was also the treasurer of the All India Congress Committee. 

Patel started his political career by contesting local body elections in the Bharuch District of Gujarat in 1976. Since then, he has virtually occupied every major position in the party’s state and central wings. From January to September 1985 Ahmed Patel was the Parliamentary Secretary to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In 1987 he in his capacity as Member of Parliament, Patel was proactive in setting up the Narmada Management Authority to monitor the Sardar Sarovar Project.

On the occasion of Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth centenary celebration, Patel was appointed the secretary of the Jawahar Bhavan Trust in 1988. He was asked by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to supervise the construction of Jawahar Bhavan in New Delhi’s Raisina Road, a project which had been stalled for more than a decade. In a record one year, just in time for Nehru’s birth centenary celebrations, Patel successfully created Jawahar Bhavan, which was at that point a highly futuristic building equipped with computers, telephones and energy saving air conditioners. The building was constructed using funds from Congress lawmakers and partly crowd funded through one day cricket matches.

In 2005, Ahmed Patel had got Bharuch included as one of the first five districts to be covered under the then launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, to boost electrification in the district. The Sardar Patel Bridge to decongest traffic between the twin cities of Bharuch and Ankleshwar has been one of his contributions to the region.

In 2005, Ahmed Patel was inducted into the Rajya Sabha for his fourth term. Though considered Sonia Gandhi’s chief strategist, he chose to keep out of the UPA government in the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha. He maintains a low profile and avoids media and public Glare. Patel is the only second Muslim after Ehsan Jafri to be elected as a Lok Sabha MP in Gujarat.

During the UPA Government regime between 2004 and 2014, Patel was one of the chief troubleshooters, coordinators and translators between the government and party. He is also the political secretary of Sonia Gandhi in the Indian National Congress.

In 2017, he again got elected Rajya Sabha. It was a known victory for Ahmed Patel. Karnataka Congress Leader D.K. Shivakumar took Gujarat MLAs to Bengaluru to avoid dissent and helped Ahmed Patel to win the election.

Personal Life:

Ahmed Patel is married to Memoona Ahmed Patel since 1976. The couple has a daughter and a son. He is known to keep a low profile and rarely interacts with the media. Apart from politics, he is been seen as a close Aide to the Nehru-Gandhi Family, which form the leadership of the party.

(Wiki)

It appears that the fascist forces in the country are suffering from Love Jihad Mania or they are deliberately are posing it as a big issues. After announcement of several states to pass law on Love Jihad, their supervising body RSS is going to discuss various dimensions of the Issue. They would try to find out ways to tackle and curb its incidences.

It is very appropriate to mention here that the BJP Rulings states Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments decided to bring a law against the issue of Love Jihad.

Last week, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij disclosed the intention of his Government: “A Committee will be set up to draft a “strict law” against “Love Jihad”. Himachal Pradesh has already passed a bill on the topic so we shall further fanatic attempts in this regard in near future.

Sana Khan, who was the topic of Media discussion and on the social media around a month ago for her divorcing the showbiz, has married an Islamic Scholar Mufti Anas from Surat in Gujarat. The wedding of the former Bigg Boss contestant third on 20th November, 2020 was very simple one. Only family and closed friends graced the occasion.

Why a bold former actor preferred a bearded young-man over so many admirers, we can find the answer to this question in her declaration to the world about her spiritual journey and her statement on Instagram.
“Loved each other for the sake of Allah. Married each other for the sake of Allah. May Allah keep us united in this Duniya and reunite in us in Jannah.”

Sana Khan has been successful in modeling, film industry of the south as well Bollywood. She has been third in Bigg Boss. Around 50 aids are to her credit. May the Almighty Allah bless this couple and fulfill their wishes in this world and the world hereinafter. We appreciate her quest for spirituality showing a path to those persons, who are improperly indulged in the worldly pleasures. This example of Sana Khan has shown again profoundly that the spirituality is an integral part of human nature.

• Syed Modi and His Murder
• CAA CARD OF BJP FOR 2021 ELECTION OF WEST BENGAL

On the night of 11 August 2020, violent clashes took place in the Indian city of Bangalore, Karnataka. Provoked by an inflammatory Facebook post on Hazrat Muhammad (SAS) that was allegedly shared by the nephew of Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, a state legislator of the Indian National Congress a Muslim mob arrived at his house in protest which turned violent.

The clashes between the police and the mobs started around the residence of the legislator and spread to the police stations of KG Halli and DJ Halli. The incident resulted in the imposition of a curfew in the affected areas. 3 people were killed after police opened fire on the crowds. 30–80 policemen and several journalists, were injured by armed assailants. Murthy’s property was torched during the period of violence.

The following day, over 100 people were arrested by the police. Some of the crowds were also allegedly led by members of the Social Democratic Party of India  (SDPI), an Islamist fundamentalist political outfit and has led to the arrest of a few of its leaders.

Incident:
On 11 August 2020, the nephew of an Indian National Congress state legislator Akhanda Srinivas Murthy allegedly posted a derogatory remark on Facebook that targeted the Islamic prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). The post went viral in the area and people began gathering in front of the legislator’s residence in Kaval Byrasandra in protest, demanding that the accused be arrested. The police sent two teams from the DJ Halli station to detain the nephew.

According to the police, at around 8 p.m., small groups had arrived at Kaval Byrasandra, following which hundreds started gathering around the DJ Halli police station, demanding action against those responsible for the social media message. Members of the SDPI were reportedly present in the crowd at DJ Halli. The people present there tried to report a complaint but claimed that the police were reluctant to do so, which agitated the crowd.

The News Minute reported there were 17–20 Muslims protesting in front of the legislator’s residence at 8:30 p.m., however within the next hour the numbers swelled to around 200, joined by people armed with sticks, petrol and kerosene cans. This crowd began throwing stones, vandalizing the residence and eventually set a part of the property on fire. The legislator and his family were not present inside the residence at the time of the attack. The mob reportedly also indulged in looting at the residence; according to Murthy, ornaments and sarees went missing from his house.

Meanwhile, the police at DJ Halli station attempted to defuse the tension with the assistance of local community members but when one of the teams returned without the accused, the crowd forcefully entered the station, vandalized it and even set police vehicles on fire. At 10:30 p.m., two other Congress state legislators Zameer Ahmad Khan Rizwan Arshad arrived at the DJ Halli station to help subdue the situation but the violence had reportedly gotten out of control by this time. The Bangalauru Police Commissioner, Kamal Pant also arrived around the same time. Between 11:00 pm and 12:30 am, a group of Muslim youths also formed a human chain around the local temple near DJ Halli station to protect it in case of any escalation. According to a later testimony from the police, the situation fortunately did not snowball into a communal riot. Eventually the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) had to be called in to disperse the crowd and free the policemen trapped inside the station. The KSRP began by lathi charges and proceeded to firing tear gas, then firing warning shots and eventually fired live rounds at the crowd.

In Kaval Byrasandra, by 10:30 pm the mob at Murthy’s house had moved to his nephew’s residence, demanding that he be handed over to them and on receiving no response barged in, vandalized and looted the house. The resident family took refuge in a neighbor’s house by climbing through parapets. The family’s car was burned down as well. The mob eventually moved around the neighborhood setting fire to several cars and a bar. Around 11 pm, rumors started spreading that a neighboring police station, KG Halli, was protecting the legislator’s nephew. During the confrontation with the police in DJ Halli, a section of the mob dispersed and a new mob was formed at KG Halli that attempted to enter the station. However, this mob was met with stronger resistance from the police and in the end resorted to burning down cars parked outside. Several policemen and journalists outside the station were injured by the armed mob. The crowds eventually scattered after the police at DJ Halli station began firing.

According to The Hindu, the total number of participants in the mobs amounted to 2000 while the police firing at DJ Halli resulted in the death of 3 people. The deaths were later confirmed by the city police commissioner, according to whom at least 1000 people were involved. Between 1 am and 5 am, the police began clearing the streets while identifying and arresting those involved in the violence.

Aftermath
Investigation
On 12 August 2020, the JCP (Crime) Bengaluru, Sandeep Patil reported that 110 people had been arrested in relation with the violence. The accused were charged under attempt to murder   and obstruction of a public servant. The Bengaluru Police Commissioner, Kamal Pant, stated that a curfew was enforced in the DJ Halli and KG Halli police jurisdictions while section imposed in the rest of the city. Later in the same day, Pant extended the curfew till 6 am of 15 August. The Central Crime Branch DCP, Kuldeep Jain justified the police firing and stated that due process was followed. According to his testimony, the police attempted to convince the mob but they had instead turned violent and begun throwing stones at the police due to which additional forces had to be brought in. The Home Minister Basawaraj Bhommai also stated that the police had to resort to firing to bring the situation under control.
The families of those killed in the firing claimed they were simply bystanders and did not take part in the violence, as did the family members of many arrested. The legislator’s nephew, who made the objectionable post, was also arrested. However, he claimed that his Facebook account was hacked, while his father claimed his phone had been stolen two days before the post. His uncle filed an FIR for the destruction of his ancestral house, claiming 3 crores loss, and sought police protection for himself and his family.

On 14 August 2020, the Bengaluru Police Commissioner reported that 60 more people were arrested in night operations on 14 August, bringing the total arrested to 206. One of them, the husband of a BBMP Corporator, was the 7th accused in the First Information Report filed, according to which, he was one of the “conspirators.” 80 of the arrested were shifted to a jail in Ballari.

Response
Several Muslim community leaders visited Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s house and prayed there, and one offered to reconstruct it. The legislator himself claimed he had a “brotherly” relationship with everyone, and that he did not know why anyone wanted to burn down his house. He also called for action against the sharer of the offending post.

B. S. Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka ordered strict action against rioters involved. Congress leader and former Chief Minister of the state Siddaramaiah called for calm and condemned both the riots and the post that incited them, and called for the arrest of those who instigated them. Congress also summoned a legislator meeting over the violence. Leaders in the SDPI denied involvement in the violence and claimed it only occurred due to “police inaction against blasphemy and failure of intelligence,” and criticized the police for “unnecessarily dragging” their leaders into the incident.

The riots quickly became politicized, with politicians from the BJP accusing Congress of having links with the riots. BJP National Secretary B.L. Santhosh criticized the Congress for allegedly supporting the “right to riot” and engaging in “appeasement” (towards Muslims). Since the legislator is Dalit, many BJP leaders have also accused Congress of being “anti-Dalit.”Congress leader Priyank M. Kharge alleged the statements of Santosh were attempts to communalize the incident. Congress also criticized the Karnataka government for failing to prevent the incident, with spokesman Randeep Surjewala claiming they represented “complete failure of law and order machinery.”

R. Ashoka, Revenue Minister of Karnataka, claimed the mob had “plans to move to Shivajinagar” afterwards and they had “everything they needed to create violence ready.” Karnataka tourism minister C.T. Ravi and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya demanded compensation for damaged property be forcibly provided by known participants in the riots, a policy proposed by Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh following the anti-CAA protests there. Several opposition leaders, including Janata Dal Secular leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and Karnataka Congress president D.K. Shiv Kumar also claimed the riots were a “planned conspiracy.”