An FIR has been registered following an incident during the Eid Milad-ul-Nabi procession on September 17, 2024, where violations of permission guidelines led to unrest, as per Police.
According to the police report, at the conclusion of what was initially a peaceful procession, a group unlawfully gathered, brandishing swords with the intent to disrupt public peace.
When police attempted to disperse the crowd, they were obstructed by the participants. Moulvi Farooq Misbal allegedly gave a provocative speech, inciting religious tensions and threatening to breach public order, read the FIR, of which a copy is in possession of The Kashmiriyat.
‘His speech, broadcast over loudspeakers, reportedly targeted various communities, raising concerns about escalating violence, especially since a procession from another religious group was approaching the same area,” Police said in the FIR.
Police authorities, with the assistance of other community members, managed to de-escalate the situation.
However, Moulvi Farooq, the head cleric of Jamia Masjid Poonch, is accused of attempting to create division between religious groups and turning the procession into a protest.
The case has been registered under several sections, including 223, 180(2), 192, 195(2), 196(2), 49 BNS, and 425 Arms Act.
The investigation has been handed over to SI Abdul Aziz (EXJ-876443), as per Police FIR.
The FIR registered against Mufti Maulana Farooq Misbahi Sb is deeply condemnable, an attempt to silence voices in J&K that speak out against oppression. Displaying the Palestinian flag during Juloos-e-Milad is not a crime, especially when India's foreign policy supports Palestine pic.twitter.com/uHWYMM144A
— Dilshad Qadri (@DilshadQadri77) September 20, 2024
On social media several users condemned the FIR and demanded it’s cancellation.