Islamist violence in Ranchi in 2022 over Nupur Sharma’s: Police seek arrest warrants against 39 rioters

The Jharkhand police, investigating the clashes that erupted in Ranchi on Friday, June 10, 2022, over the alleged ‘blasphemous’ comments by Nupur Sharma, have arrested one and approached the court seeking arrest warrants against 39 accused, holding them responsible for the violence.

Meanwhile, various Muslim organisations have taken offence to the police action against the rioters. In a meeting held after reports on the aforementioned news emerged, members of various Muslim outfits decided that the people of the Muslim community will keep shops and businesses closed on August 12 in protest against the police action. 

Calling the action ‘one-sided’, the people associated with these organisations said that they had not expected such actions from CM Hemant Soren and his Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) government. Notably, Soren leads an alliance government of his party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

They lamented that the Hemant administration and the “secular” coalition administration had ignored incidents that led to minorities’ constitutional rights being violated.

In the meeting, the Hemant government was urged to halt the ‘unilateral’ police action in the Ranchi violence case until a thorough high-level investigation had been conducted.

Additionally, organizations called for the adoption of laws to prevent mob lynchings and to guarantee the safety of minorities in the state.

2022 Islamist violence in Ranchi over Nupur Sharma’s remark

Notably, the police action has come a year after Islamist mobs ran riots in the Jharkhand capital of Ranchi, resorting to stone-pelting, arson, and vandalism over the innocuous comment on Prophet Muhammad by the ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The violent protest had broken out in the city on Friday, 10th June, and gathered pace after the Friday Namaz.

After the Friday prayers, the protests grew in intensity and resulted in stone-pelting and vandalism. Several vehicles were torched. As per reports, the rioters also opened fire deliberating the police to use lathicharge and fire in the air to try and bring the situation under control.

During the violence, a local Police officer was also injured along with several other police personnel. At least two rioters succumbed to their injuries. The rioters who died due to bullet injuries were identified as Mudassir alias Kaifi and Sahil.

Following the violence, a curfew has been imposed in the violence-hit areas in Ranchi. The internet service had been suspended and Section 144 had been imposed.

The police had registered 25 FIRs against “thousands” of people in the aftermath of violent protests by Islamists in the Jharkhand capital of Ranchi. Subsequently, more than two dozen people were arrested at that time.

As the investigation into the incident began, the police revealed that the Islamists who ran amok on the streets of Ranchi in Jharkhand on June 10, used a WhatsApp group named ‘Wasseypur gang’ to mobilise the rampaging mob.