Stones were pelted in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly on Friday after Muslim cleric Tauqeer Raza was detained by the police for giving a ‘jail bharo’ call over the recent developments in the Gyanvapi issue. Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief Tauqeer Raza on Thursday asked his followers to come out on the streets and get arrested by the police in protest against ‘oppression against Muslims in the country’. Tauqeer Raza’s ‘jail bharo’ march took place ahead of the afternoon namaz on Friday. Tauqeer Raza also criticised the bulldozing of the madrasa in Haldwani which led to a communal flare-up in the Uttarakhand town, close to Bareilly.

Tauqueer Raza was released shortly after.

Police were on alert ahead of the Tauqeer Raza’s Jail Bharo Aandolan. Additional SP (city) Rahul Bhati said around 1,000 cops were deployed in Bareilly and special arrangements were made at every mosque.

“We will not tolerate any bulldozer action any more. If the Supreme Court can not take care of us, we will take care of us. Now I am going to offer namaz. After that I will offer to be arrested,” Tauqueer Raza said ahead of jail bharo andolan.

The Varanasi court has recently allowed the Hindus to offer prayers in the Vyas ji ka tahkhana of Gyanvapi mosque in a landmark verdict on January 31. The Muslim side has moved the court against it but Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in his recent speech in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly made it clear that temples will be built in Kashi and Mathura as they along with Ayodhya are part of the three centres of Hindu faith.

Acting promptly on the jail bharo call, police sealed the Islamia College ground where Tauqeer Raza asked his followers to gather. But still thousand of supporters gathered near the ground and it took two hours for the administration to persuade them to return to their homes.

Maulana Tauqeer Raza, a Barelvi cleric, is a direct descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, the founder of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam.

(With PTI inputs)