Muslim Ulemas and community leaders met the Director General of Police of Maharashtra, Rashmi Shukla, on Wednesday evening to submit a memorandum seeking the arrest of Mahant Ramgiri Maharaj, a Hindu religious leader who is alleged to have made disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad and his wife Ayesha during a meeting on August 15 at Panchale village in Sinnar, Nashik.
FIRs have been filed across the state, including police stations in Mumbai, against Ramgiri Maharaj who has an ashram at Goda Dham, Sarala Bet, Ahmednagar. The speech has created turmoil in the Muslim community in the state. The Raza Academy, a Sunni group, which was among the groups that met the DGP, has asked Muslims to observe Friday as 'Day of Protection in the Honour of the Prophet'.
Waris Pathan, the former AIMIM Member of Legislative Assembly from Byculla, said, “The DGP has taken cognisance of our memorandum. She has promised action.”
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Meanwhile, a Chembur-based organisation called Hazrat Khwaja Garib Welfare Association has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court to draw the court's notice that police have not arrested Ramgiri Maharaj despite multiple FIRs. The petition said that the accused is influential and may tamper with evidence. The petitioner also said that there could be a 'serious law and order problem in society' if there is no arrest.
The petition said that after Ramgiri Maharaj made the controversial statements about Prophet Mohammad and his wife, Hazrat Ayesha, the videos and photos of the event were circulated widely. The FIR at Pydhonie was filed on August 18. The petition has asked the court to direct the Commissioner of Police (Mumbai) and the Pydhonie police to arrest the religious leader and report it to the court
The petition said that an FIR was filed at Pydhonie police station on August 18 under sections 196, 299, 302 and other provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that covers offences like promoting enmity between different groups and outraging religious beliefs. The petition says that as the police have not responded to the complaints, there was no other remedy but to approach the courts.
