SP delegation stopped from visiting Bareilly, days after clashes over ‘I love Muhammad’ banners: MLA

Samajwadi Party MLA Mata Prasad Pandey on Saturday claimed that he was barred from leaving his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow to visit Bareilly district, where clashes broke out on September 26.

On Friday, the Samajwadi Party had announced that a 14-member delegation of party MPs, led by Pandey, would travel to the district following the incident, which took place when a crowd carrying “I love Muhammad” posters clashed with police outside a mosque in the Kotwali area.

Pandey claimed that the district magistrate told him that his visit would “spoil the atmosphere” in Bareilly.

He said: “We don’t spoil any atmosphere, the administration is not letting us go there to hide its own shortcomings.”

Pandey called the situation “completely unfortunate and undemocratic”.

The party’s social media handles also posted photos and videos showing police purportedly stopping its leaders from traveling to Bareilly.

“The MPs had left from Delhi, but were stopped from leaving their homes in their constituencies,” The Indian Express quoted Pandey as saying.

“We had been receiving phone calls and messages that… innocent people were being sent to jail,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “Our intention was to get to the truth and help those in need.”

भाजपा सरकार की तानाशाही, खत्म कर रही लोकशाही !

बरेली जा रहे सपा सांसदों को जबरन पुलिस ने रोका, बेहद निंदनीय एवं शर्मनाक। pic.twitter.com/3t9nIIwoXQ— Samajwadi Party...

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