Sambhal, UP: The Uttar Pradesh Police’s decision to register a first information report (FIR) after recovering “I Love Muhammad” posters from a demolished mosque in Sambhal has triggered fresh debate over religious freedom, constitutional rights and the growing use of criminal law in matters involving Muslim religious expression.

The demolition and subsequent criminal case

The FIR was lodged after authorities demolished the Mustafa Qadri mosque in Kaserua village of Sambhal district on Saturday (June 6), claiming the structure had been illegally constructed on land designated as a graveyard.

According to the police, officers entered the building before the demolition and recovered 49 posters bearing the words “I Love Muhammad” along with a green flag carrying a crescent and star symbol. The posters were allegedly found beneath a mattress placed on a platform on the upper floor of the building. 

Eight people, including the mosque’s mutawalli (caretaker) and committee members, have been booked under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with statements or publications that may promote hatred, enmity or ill-will between different groups.

The FIR alleges the recovered material had the potential to create resentment among the Hindu community and disturb communal harmony.

The case has raised a broader question among legal experts, opposition leaders and rights advocates: Can a declaration of religious devotion, found inside a mosque, be treated as material capable of promoting communal disharmony?

Sambhal’s history of communal sensitivity

The controversy emerges from a district that has remained politically and communally charged since violence erupted during a court-ordered survey of the historic Shahi Jama Masjid in November 2024.

The dispute began when Hindu petitioners claimed the Mughal-era mosque had been........

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