A disturbing pattern is emerging across India and beyond, where alleged acts of blasphemy—later discovered to be internally orchestrated by Islamists are being weaponised to incite communal tensions, often putting Hindu lives and property at risk. In two recent incidents from Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur and Agra, communal tensions were deliberately inflamed, only to later reveal the involvement of members from within the Muslim community itself.
On the night of April 3, communal tension gripped Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh after torn pages of the Quran were discovered near a local shop close to the Jalalabad police station. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a young man discarding the pages around 9 PM, prompting outrage among the local Muslim population. Within hours, hundreds gathered on Tehsil Road, raising religious slogans and demanding action.
Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi personally arrived at the scene with heavy police deployment to pacify the agitated crowd and prevent any law-and-order breakdown. After preliminary inquiries, CCTV footage revealed the shocking truth, the act had been carried out not by a member of another faith, but by a local Muslim man named Nazeem, a resident of Jalalabad.
“I personally reached the scene with police personnel, and after ensuring that the crowd dispersed, we checked the CCTV footage. The video showed a man throwing torn pages of the Quran into the air. The accused was later identified as Nazeem,” SP Dwivedi stated.
Nazeem was apprehended and is currently under investigation. The motive behind his act is being probed, though officials suspect a deliberate attempt to create communal unrest and falsely implicate members of the Hindu community.
Pork meat found in Agra Mosque
Just days later, another attempt to incite religious unrest surfaced in Agra. On the morning of April 6, residents of the Kotwali area discovered pieces of pork meat, considered impure in Islam, was thrown inside the courtyard of a local mosque. Once again, the local community assembled in large numbers, and tensions ran high. However, police presence and timely intervention prevented the situation from spiraling out of control.
CCTV footage showed a man placing the bag in the mosque compound on the afternoon of April 10. Police identified and arrested the suspect within five hours. The accused was revealed to be Mohammad Nasruddin, a Muslim resident of the Teela Nandram locality in Mantoa. His identity stunned both the mosque authorities and the wider community, raising troubling suspicions of a deliberate attempt to manufacture communal outrage from within.
DCP City Sonam Kumar confirmed the arrest and stated that the motive is under investigation, though the act appears to be carefully timed to coincide with ongoing nationwide protests by Muslim groups against the Waqf Amendment Bill.
Both incidents have raised alarm bells among security agencies, especially in the wake of ongoing political discourse around the Waqf Amendment Bill, which has drawn strong opposition from Islamist leaders and some political parties who label it as “anti-Muslim”.
Bangladesh and Pakistan’s dangerous template
This pattern is not limited to India. In 2021, communal violence erupted across Bangladesh after reports emerged of the Quran being placed at a Durga Puja pandal in Comilla. While Hindu temples and homes were set ablaze, police later identified the real culprit as a Muslim man named Iqbal Hossain, who had deliberately placed the Quran in the pandal to ignite riots.
Similarly, in 2023, a man named Shah Alam was caught entering a Durga Puja mandap in Chittagong, Bangladesh, with a bag containing multiple copies of the Quran and jihadist literature. Though handed over to the police, he was released without charges—officials citing mental instability. Eyewitnesses, however, believe this too was an orchestrated attempt to incite violence against Hindus during their religious festivities.
“Around 8 PM, we detained him for questioning and searched his bag. We found three copies of the Quran Sharif and some jihadist books,” said Gobinda Kantinath, General Secretary of the Puja Committee.
Nagpur and beyond: A playbook of manufactured outrage
In Nagpur, a similar false accusation of blasphemy recently led to stone-pelting and attempted mob violence against a Hindu neighbourhood. Again, preliminary investigation revealed no evidence supporting the claim, and suspicions emerged that it had been staged.
This playbook of defiling Islamic texts or spaces and blaming other communities, particularly Hindus, has become a common tactic. It’s not just used to provoke street violence but to shape public opinion, justify protests, and vilify legislation perceived as unfavourable to Islamic institutions, such as the Waqf Amendment Bill.
Deadly consequences of Blasphemy accusations globally
The repercussions of such accusations are often fatal. In Pakistan, Priyantha Diyawadana, a Sri Lankan national, was lynched and burned by a mob in Sialkot in 2021 after false accusations of blasphemy. The mob chanted religious slogans and recorded videos as they carried out the gruesome act.
Even in the West, similar incidents have occurred. In France, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in 2020 after false allegations circulated that he had shown derogatory images of Prophet Muhammad. The student who initiated the false claim hadn’t even attended the class. Yet, Paty paid with his life.
From Uttar Pradesh to Bangladesh, Pakistan to France, a troubling trend is evident, weaponising blasphemy as a pretext to unleash violence, particularly targeting Hindu and non-Muslim minorities. These incidents often follow a similar pattern: false flag acts involving desecration, quick mobilisation of mobs, and the attempted framing of minorities.
As the Waqf Amendment Bill gains traction, and efforts to streamline religious land management are underway, security experts warn that vested interests may escalate such incidents to foment unrest.
The Shahjahanpur and Agra cases serve as stark reminders that police must remain vigilant, not only to prevent communal violence but also to expose the insidious attempts to provoke it under the garb of religious outrage.
