SP Slams UP Govt After Police Block Delegation to Bareilly Over Slogan Controversy

October 4, 2025

New Delhi, Oct 4: A delegation from the Samajwadi Party (SP), including MPs Iqra Hasan and Mohibbullah Nadvi, on Saturday left from the residence of senior SP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Harendra Singh Malik en route to trouble-torn Bareilly. However, the delegation was stopped before reaching its destination by a heavy police deployment.

The visit comes in the wake of recent tensions in Bareilly over the controversial ‘I Love Muhammad’ slogan row.

Party leaders intend to meet those affected by the incident and assess the ground situation. Ziaur Rahman Barq, another prominent SP MP, was scheduled to join the delegation from Sambhal.

However, the delegation was stopped before reaching its destination by a heavy police deployment.

SP MLA Ataur Rahman, who was also part of the visiting team, alleged that the administration was trying to suppress democratic outreach.

On being stopped from travelling to Bareilly over the ‘I Love Muhammad’ row and the violence that had taken place over it, Samajwadi Party MP Hasan said, “The ruling power is involved. Our effort was to reach there, listen to the people’s suffering, and raise their voice, which is the duty of a public representative, and to help them. But here, we were stopped.”

MP Harendra Singh Malik added, “We just wanted to travel within our own country, to go to our own districts, and yet we are being treated in this manner. If the government treated terrorists this way, the Pulwama and Pahalgam attacks would not have occurred. They should have been stopped.”

SP MP Mohibbullah Nadvi also said, “In Bareilly, the law and the Constitution are being torn apart, and people there are being persecuted. To witness this, and on the party president’s instructions, our entire delegation is leaving from here. We will continue to fight in the capital. The Samajwadi Party is confident we will win this fight…”

SP MLA Ataur Rahman said: “We were going to Bareilly on Mata Prasad Pandey’s instructions to meet the victims of the incident there so that people can get justice, but police from many stations have been deployed here to prevent us from going there.”

Leader of Opposition in UP Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey stated: “All the officials there (in Bareilly), I had earlier appointed as SPs. When we meet these officials, we can talk to people and get accurate information… By going there ourselves, we can understand the people and address any issues.”

Earlier in the day, police personnel were deployed outside the residence of Mata Prasad Pandey, in Lucknow.

Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq on Saturday questioned the Uttar Pradesh government’s move to prevent a party delegation from visiting Bareilly amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the ‘I Love Muhammad’ slogan.

Barq, who was part of the delegation, strongly criticised the police for blocking their visit, calling it undemocratic and unjustified.

“When the police administration and the government in Bareilly are saying that everything there is normal and there is no problem, then what sense does preventing us from going there make? We strongly oppose this and want to go there to meet the victim families and prepare an accurate report that can help them obtain justice,” Barq said.

The SP delegation, comprising MPs Iqra Hasan, Mohibbullah Nadvi, and Barq set out from the residence of senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Harendra Singh Malik earlier in the day. They were acting on the instructions of the Leader of the Opposition, Mata Prasad Pandey, to meet victims allegedly harassed by police action in Bareilly.

However, heavy police deployment blocked the team’s movement.

The controversy stems from recent incidents in Bareilly where several youths were reportedly detained or questioned for slogans praising the Prophet Muhammad. While the administration maintains that the situation is under control, Opposition leaders have accused the state government of communal profiling and stifling dissent.

As of now, the situation in Bareilly remains tense, with large numbers of police personnel stationed in sensitive areas. The SP delegation has urged the government to allow peaceful political engagement and to ensure transparency in police action.