Why is India prosecuting Muslims who said ‘I love Muhammad’?

New Delhi, India – For the past month, Indian constabulary person raided aggregate markets and homes, arresting Muslim men successful states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. Some of their homes person been bulldozed.

The genesis of their alleged transgression is common: writing, “I Love Muhammad”, a notation to Prophet Muhammad, connected posters, t-shirts, oregon successful societal media posts. The authorities accidental the look is threatening “public order”.

So far, astatine slightest 22 cases person been registered against much than 2,500 Muslims. At slightest 40 radical person been arrested crossed aggregate states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to the nonprofit Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).

So, what is happening? How and wherever did this start? And is it amerciable to accidental ‘I Love Muhammad’ successful India?

What’s happening?

On September 4, Muslims surviving successful Kanpur metropolis of the bluish Indian authorities of Uttar Pradesh were observing Eid al-Milad al-Nabi, the solemnisation of the commencement of Prophet Muhammad, erstwhile a neighbourhood enactment up an illuminated committee saying, “I emotion Muhammad”.

But the board, mimicking the fashionable “I Love New York” signage that has been copied each implicit the world, drew disapproval from immoderate section Hindus. Initially, their ailment alleged that the illuminated committee was a caller instauration to accepted festivities connected the occasion, erstwhile Uttar Pradesh’s laws barroom caller additions to nationalist spiritual celebrations. About 20 percent of Kanpur’s colonisation is Muslim.

However, based connected complaints, the constabulary filed a lawsuit against 2 twelve radical connected overmuch much superior charges: promoting enmity connected the grounds of religion. The complaint carries a punishment of up to 5 years successful jailhouse if the accused idiosyncratic is convicted.

The Kanpur occurrence drew wide disapproval from Muslim governmental leaders, and protests against the constabulary enactment dispersed to different states, including Telangana successful confederate India, Gujarat and Maharashtra successful the west, and successful Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir successful the north. The  “I emotion Muhammad” hoardings and writings came up crossed the state – from people’s societal media handles to t-shirts.

Nearly 270km (168 miles) distant from Kanpur, successful Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, a radical of radical participating successful a objection called by a section imam against the Kanpur arrests, violently clashed with the constabulary connected September 26.

The constabulary deed backmost with a crackdown, arresting 75 people, including the imam, Tauqeer Raza, his relatives and his aides. At slightest 4 buildings belonging to the accused individuals person been bulldozed by the section authorities.

In caller years, hundreds of Indian Muslims person mislaid their homes to specified demolitions, which are often carried retired without immoderate announcement issued by authorities, oregon immoderate tribunal order. India’s Supreme Court has observed that demolitions cannot beryllium utilized arsenic a signifier of extra-legal punishment, informing that authorities authorities indispensable springiness anterior announcement earlier razing immoderate property. Yet, connected the ground, that bid is often not followed, accidental activists.

Meanwhile, dozens of different Muslims person been arrested successful antithetic states – including immoderate successful Modi’s location authorities of Gujarat – for societal media posts and videos carrying the “I emotion Muhammad” slogan.

A bulldozer demolishes the location of a Muslim antheral successful Prayagraj, India, June 12, 2022. Authorities assertion the location was illegally built [Ritesh Shukla/Reuters]

Is it illegal?

India’s constitution guarantees the state of religion and the close to explicit it. Article 25 protects each individual’s state to practise their religion. Citizens are besides protected nether Article 19(1)(a), which guarantees the close to state of code and expression, unless it straight incites unit oregon hatred.

In the cases of radical arrested arsenic portion of the “I Love Muhammad” crackdown, the constabulary person mostly charged them nether ineligible provisions that barroom ample gatherings aimed astatine committing “mischief”, oregon for acts that allegedly provoke spiritual tensions. However, these provisions person been applied against those arrested for societal media posts, oregon wearing t-shirts with “I Love Muhammad” emblazoned connected them.

Nadeem Khan, the nationalist coordinator of APCR, the nonprofit that has been tracking these cases, has fought erstwhile lawsuits against authorities officials for likewise targeting Muslims for societal media expressions, oregon erstwhile their homes person been bulldozed.

Khan told Al Jazeera that authorities were cautiously utilizing ineligible provisions that absorption not connected the “I Love Muhammad” look itself, but connected alleged offences carried retired by those who utilized the look oregon protested against related constabulary crackdowns.

“They cognize that determination is nary instrumentality that criminalises conscionable the specified look of ‘I Love Muhammad’,” Khan said.

Khan noted that crossed India, images of Hindu gods wielding their accepted weapons person agelong been commonplace. “These images are astatine each country of the country; should it besides offend oregon endanger each Muslims then?” helium asked. “Everyone should recognize that the authorities cannot criminalise a religion similar this,” helium added, referring to Islam.

Since 2014, erstwhile Modi took implicit the powerfulness successful New Delhi, India has consistently slid successful a scope of planetary antiauthoritarian indices.

Criminalising people’s close to state of look and spiritual content sets a profoundly troubling precedent, said Aakar Patel, the seat of Amnesty International India’s board.

“Targeting radical for slogans specified arsenic ‘I Love Muhammad’, which is peaceful and devoid of immoderate incitement oregon threat, does not conscionable the threshold for transgression regularisation nether either Indian law instrumentality oregon planetary quality rights law,” Patel told Al Jazeera.

“Public bid concerns indispensable beryllium addressed proportionately and cannot warrant the broad suppression of spiritual individuality oregon expression,” helium added.

“The relation of the authorities is to safeguard rights equally, not to constabulary expressions of belief,” said Amnesty’s Patel. “Upholding law and planetary commitments is not optional; it is simply a ineligible obligation.”

People carrying “I Love Muhammad” posters aft the Friday prayer) extracurricular a Mosque adjacent Mumbra railway Station connected September 25, 2025 successful Thane successful the occidental Indian authorities of Maharashtra [Praful Gangurde/Hindustan Times via Getty Images]

Is determination a pattern?

Critics accidental that the crackdown is lone the latest lawsuit of Indian Muslims facing marginalisation, unit oregon the targeted brunt of the instrumentality since Modi came to powerfulness successful 2014.

In the past 11 years, the incidents of hatred code targeting spiritual minorities person skyrocketed. Documented instances of hatred code jumped from 668 successful 2023 to 1,165 past year, a emergence of astir 74 percent. A important bulk of these incidents happened successful BJP-governed states, oregon places wherever elections were upcoming.

Increasingly, section Hindu-Muslim disputes present rapidly alteration into nationalist issues, said Asim Ali, a governmental expert based successful Delhi.

“There is an full ecosystem successful place, from pliant media to societal media organisation, to dispersed this hatred rapidly,” said Ali. “And the instrumentality is work successful specified a mode that immoderate look of spiritual identity, particularly of Muslims, tin beryllium seen arsenic inciting spiritual hatred,” helium added.

After the “I Love Muhammad” occurrence successful Kanpur, BJP leaders successful Modi’s ain constituency, Varanasi, enactment up posters saying, “I Love Bulldozer” astatine large intersections of the city, successful a notation to the bulldozing of houses of the accused.

Protesters instrumentality portion successful a objection against India’s arguable amendments to citizenship rules successful New Delhi connected January, 29, 2020. The rules person wide been criticised arsenic discriminatory against Muslim asylum seekers [Sajjad Hussein/AFP]

How does it impact young Muslims?

Rasheed Kidwai, a governmental analyst, said that the enactment implicit “I Love Muhammad” is “overtly precise political, and not religious”.

And successful India, determination is increasing vexation among Muslims, particularly youth, wherever they spot that 1 acceptable of rules is not applied for all, erstwhile it comes to matters of taste individuality and eating habits, said Kidwai.

Several of the accused, oregon arrested, arsenic portion of the “I Love Muhammad” crackdown, see young big Muslims, according to information from APCR, including those who were arrested for societal media posts.

The crackdown connected “I Love Muhammad” look risks alienating young Muslim adults adjacent more, said Ali. “In theory, everyone is already blameworthy and tin look enactment for conscionable being,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“It is getting hard to ideate what the aboriginal whitethorn clasp now,” helium said. “The tempo of hatred is expanding time by day.”