LUCKNOW: Friday prayers passed off peacefully in Uttar Pradesh with no incident of sloganeering or protest reported from any part. The government had made elaborate security arrangements in the wake of violent clashes in many parts of the state after Friday prayers on 3 and June 10 over the remarks on Prophet Muhammad by a former BJP spokesperson.
With the help of religious leaders, prayers were held in a peaceful manner in the state and no incident of protest or sloganeering was reported, said ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar.
He added that security personnel would remain deployed in hyper-sensitive districts as a preventive measure. “We have instructed all the district police chiefs to remain on toes and keep the local intelligence units on alert,” he said.
Districts where violence erupted last week — Prayagraj, Ambedkarnagar, Saharanpur, Moradabad — remained peaceful.
Friday namaz at all mosques in Prayagraj, including violence-hit Atala and adjoining pockets, passed off peacefully amid tight security. During and after the prayers, drone teams in the trouble-prone areas kept surveillance on the movement on the rooftops of houses along the streets. The district administration with the help of religious heads had deployed five volunteers at every mosque who kept appealing to people to leave for their homes after offering prayers.
As a goodwill gesture in Lucknow, members of civil society and devotees offered roses to the security personnel deployed outside the Teele Wali Masjid in Chowk and in return cops also gave them roses.
In Kanpur, members of the Minority Mahasabha gave roses to Muslims outside the mosques after Friday prayers and appealed to them for peace. Two little girls were seen offering water to policemen in the trouble-hit areas of Prayagraj.
In Varanasi, elderly came out as volunteers to ensure that devotees returned to their homes after offering namaz in mosques.
In Ambedkarnagar, prayers were offered peacefully amid heavy police deployment and surveillance from drone cameras. Flag marches had been held in Saharanpur and Deoband for the past couple of days as a precautionary measure. Aligarh, too, remained peaceful.
Around 400 people have so far been arrested in connection with protests in Prayagraj, Saharanpur, Hathras, Aligarh, Firozabad and other districts of the state.
