Gujarat police arrest Muslims but overlook Hindu violence over ‘I Love Muhammad’ campaign

The excess being used against Muslims over the “I Love Muhammad” campaign, observed as part of Milad Nabi, by authorities in BJP-governed states has escalated to the extent that right-wing Hindutva groups are attacking Muslims and targeting their homes, while incendiary language against the Prophet on social media is being used to provoke, and the police have remained spectators or selectively charged Muslims, as recent incidents in Gujarat’s Bahiyal demonstrate.

Compounding the tensions, right-wing Hindutva leaders have been instigating Hindus to retaliate violently, with incendiary calls urging people to take up weapons against Muslims, to vandalise their shops, and to inflict greater damage in the name of protecting religion, while videos of such provocations circulated widely on social media without immediate intervention from the authorities.

These speeches, laced with explicit exhortations to aggression, emboldened crowds and deepened hostility in Bahiyal, where communal divisions were already strained by the online campaign.

Tension in the town intensified after a Hindutva supporter posted disparaging remarks against Muslims participating in the campaign, encouraging a counter-movement around “I Love Mahadev,” which Muslim residents perceived as a derogatory reference to the Prophet and sought legal action against, Maktoob Media reported.

Locals allege that instead of addressing the complaint, the police booked Muslims, while members of Hindu outfits, including groups arriving from nearby villages, stormed Muslim homes, vandalised property, and assaulted women and children, often in the presence of law enforcement.

The unrest reportedly worsened when a group of Muslims inadvertently passed through a Hindu-majority area during Garba festivities, where they were attacked by locals, triggering full-scale clashes.

Witnesses insist that the police not only failed to intervene but also selectively targeted Muslim households during raids, entering homes at night, arbitrarily detaining young men, and humiliating them publicly, while those accused of instigating violence and spreading hate speech faced little immediate action.

Residents point out that the individual who first provoked tensions, identified as Hitesh Bhai Patel Banker, has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, yet authorities did not act on repeated complaints against him.

Instead, police narratives framed the violence as a response to stone-pelting by Muslims during Garba, which local activists strongly dispute, arguing that the version advanced by law enforcement justifies one-sided targeting. Videos circulating online further confirmed accounts of Muslim youths being paraded after arrest, amplifying the sense of bias.