Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Remarks on Prophet: Protests erupt across India after Friday prayers; stone-pelting, arson reported in multiple cities

Remarks on Prophet: Protests erupt across India after Friday prayers; stone-pelting, arson reported in multiple cities

Protests broke out in some states on Friday including outside Delhi's Jama Masjid over the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by two now-suspended BJP functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in a few areas and parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.

In Delhi, the protesters massed outside the historic Jama Masjid after the Friday prayers demanding the arrest of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.


Some of the people, who gathered on the steps of the mosque, carried placards and shouted slogans against Sharma and Naveen Jindal, former head of the Delhi BJP's media unit.

Senior police officials said the protest was held peacefully and lasted for 15 to 20 minutes. The protesters were later dispersed from the area.

Some policemen were injured while trying to control demonstrators near Hanuman Temple situated on Ranchi's Main Road. Police fired in air and resorted to baton charge to control the protesters who spilled out on the road after the Friday prayers and pelted stones and shouted slogans.

Police officials said the protests were continuing since morning and picked up tempo post-Friday prayers. Many shops and establishments kept their shutters down in protest against the controversial remarks.

Tension mounted in Jammu's Bhaderwah and some areas of Kishtwar prompting authorities to impose curfew while parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.

Internet services were snapped in the Bhaderwah and Kishtwar towns and Srinagar city of Kashmir as a precautionary measure. Mobile Internet was also suspended in parts of Kashmir, officials said.

Sporadic incidents of stone-pelting were reported in Bhaderwah town. Some people, violating restrictions, came out on the streets and threw stones at security forces while raising slogans.

In Srinagar, protests were held at Lal Chowk, Batamaloo, Tengpora, and other places with the demonstrators holding placards.

Protests also broke out at several places in Uttar Pradesh with sloganeering taking place in Saharanpur, Moradabad, Rampur, and Lucknow.

In the Atala area of Prayagraj, people raised slogans and pelted stones after the Friday prayers ended.

Members of the Muslim community staged protests in several cities of Maharashtra though no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

In Panvel city in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, at least 3,000 protesters including around 1,000 women took out a protest march, seeking the arrest of Sharma and Jindal.

A delegation submitted a memorandum to Panvel tehsildar and the protest was over peacefully by 4 pm, said a local police official.

A protest was also held at Shivaji Chowk in Vashi, where a delegation submitted their demands to the Vashi Police Station. Similar protest gatherings or marches were held in Thane, Aurangabad, Solapur, Nandurbar, Parbhani, Beed, Latur, Bhandara, Chandrapur, and Pune districts.

Meanwhile, a complaint was filed at a court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar against Sharma, Jindal, and religious leader Swami Yati Narsinghanand by a social activist against their inflammatory statements.

The BJP on Sunday suspended Sharma and Jindal for their derogatory comments on the Prophet after they stoked a furore including in the Arab world.

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less