Does sewage in Ganga not hurt you? Owaisi slams arrest of 14 Muslims for boat Iftar

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday criticised the arrest of 14 Muslim youths in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by opening their roza on a boat in the Ganga, questioning the basis of the police action and calling it discriminatory.

Referring to the incident, Owaisi questioned whose religious sentiments were hurt by someone having food on a boat.

“In Varanasi, 14 Muslim youth opened their roza on a boat. A case was immediately registered against them. How are someone's religious sentiments being hurt if someone had food on a boat in river Ganga? Whose religious sentiments are being hurt? Does the sewage dumped in the river Ganga not hurt you?” Owaisi asked while speaking to news agency ANI.

He further alleged that the arrests were biased, saying the youths “are in jail” and their “only crime is that they are Muslims”. Drawing a comparison, Owaisi also questioned why liquor shops remained open during the month of Ramzan, arguing that such practices could hurt Muslim sentiments as well.

The controversy stems from an incident earlier this week in Varanasi, where a video purportedly showed a group of people holding an Iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga and consuming chicken biryani. The clip went viral on social media, prompting police action.

According to officials, a case was registered at Kotwali police station following a complaint by BJP Yuva Morcha’s city unit chief Rajat Jaiswal, who alleged that eating non-vegetarian food on the river and allegedly discarding leftovers into the Ganga hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.

Police said 14 people were arrested under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections related to defiling a place of worship, outraging religious feelings, promoting enmity between groups, and public nuisance. Provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, were also invoked.

Additional Commissioner of Police Vijay Pratap Singh said the action was taken after the video surfaced and a formal complaint was received, adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.

The incident has triggered a political row, with opposition leaders questioning the arrests and the grounds on which religious sentiments were deemed to have been hurt.

- Ends

Tune In