“Saying ‘I Love Muhammad’ Is Not a Crime”: Owaisi, Omar Abdullah Slam FIR Over Kanpur Posters

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday strongly condemned the FIR filed against several people in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur over posters reading “I Love Muhammad,” questioning why such expressions of faith should be considered provocative or unlawful.

Speaking to reporters in poll-bound Purnea, Bihar, Owaisi drew comparisons with other public religious or political displays. “If there is an ‘I Love Mahadev’ group, then what’s the problem? What is anti-national here? What sort of violence does this promote?” he asked. “If the word is ‘love,’ then why is anyone having a problem? If we can put up posters saying ‘Happy Birthday PM Modi,’ why not ‘I Love Prophet Muhammad’?”

Referring to Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, Owaisi underlined that freedom of religion is a fundamental right. “A Muslim’s faith is not complete until he loves Prophet Muhammad more than anything else. What message are you sending to the world by objecting to this?” he said. He also criticized what he called selective restrictions by the Uttar Pradesh government, saying, “Make a law that nobody in this country can talk about love.”

The controversy began after Kanpur police registered an FIR on September 9 against nine identified and 15 unidentified individuals for displaying “I Love Muhammad” posters during a Barawafat procession on September 4. Several Hindu groups opposed the posters, calling them a “new trend” and alleging deliberate provocation.

Owaisi’s remarks follow similar criticism from National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who on Wednesday questioned the rationale behind criminalizing such expressions. “It must mean someone is truly mentally unwell to file a case over these three words,” he said. “Even if it is linked to religion, what is wrong with it? Don’t Hindus write about their gods? Don’t Sikhs write about their Gurus?”

Abdullah called for a swift judicial response, saying, “I would like the courts to quickly set this right. How is writing ‘I Love Muhammad’ unlawful?”

Both leaders framed the issue as one of basic rights and religious equality, calling out what they saw as hypocrisy and bias in enforcement.