Violence broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur city on Friday during a shutdown called by Muslim community against the comments made about Prophet Muhammad by Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson Nupur Sharma, reported the Hindustan Times.
The incident happened after police reportedly baton-charged protestors who were demonstrating in the Becongunj area, reported Jansatta.
Videos on social media showed residents hurling stones at each others.
Violence, massive stone pelting in UP's Kanpur. This happening on the day when top investors of the country are attending ground breaking ceremony in UP to explore investment opportunities. pic.twitter.com/fK0qu0lKPA
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) June 3, 2022
Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena said that the situation is now under control, NDTV reported. Fifteen men have been detained after the clashes, he added. Two persons were injured.
“Some young men numbering 50-100 suddenly stepped out on the streets and started sloganeering,” Meena said. “Another group opposed it and it escalated to stone-pelting. Around eight to ten cops were present at the spot then who tried to intervene and controlled the situation to some extent.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind were attending an event 80 kilometres from the spot where the clashes broke out.
कानपुर में भारी बवाल…
दो समुदाय आमने-सामने, लाठीचार्ज pic.twitter.com/DCl6XpPOuL
— Suraj Shukla (@suraj_livee) June 3, 2022
Three first information reports have been filed against Nupur Sharma for her comments.
The BJP leader made the remarks during a show about the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute on Times Now on May 26. A day later, the news channel distanced itself from Sharma’s comments after a huge controversy erupted on social media.
This article first appeared on scroll.in
