NEW DELHI, June 11: As protests erupted in several parts of the country over the recent controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad by some now-suspended BJP activists, Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said it was closely monitoring the situation.
A senior MHA official said an advisory had been sent to States regarding the protests. The Ministry’s advice to States was sent after protests had broken out. It cautioned that police forces could be the target of protestors and asked them to wear proper riot gear.
The protest demonstrations that mostly erupted after Friday prayers in various cities across the country had turned violent in West Bengal, Jharkhand and several other states. Several commuters were stuck in a long winding traffic jam in Kolkata, Howrah and nearby areas as protestors blocked the national highway. The district administration temporarily blocked the Internet to bring the situation under control.
Similar protests were also held in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Telengana, Gujarat and several other states. In Jammu’s Bhaderwah, restriction on movement of more than four people under Section 144 CrPC was imposed for two days.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on a three-day Gujarat tour that goes to elections later this year. He chaired a meeting of the western zonal council comprising Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu held in Diu on Saturday.
(Manas Dasgupta)
