Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday criticised the State government over the violence in Bareilly, alleging that an atmosphere of communal divide was being created to cover up governance failures. They warned that such incidents would deepen existing social fault lines and disrupt communal harmony.

“Everyone has the right to show respect and love for his god. We say ‘I love Vishwanath’; the police action holds no legal value. The action is a well-thought-out strategy by the U.P. government to cover failures,” Ajay Rai, U.P. Congress president, said.

Asked about the ‘I Love Adityanath’ and ‘I Love Bulldozer’ posters that surfaced in Lucknow, Mr. Rai said, “Such posters show that the BJP and its ecosystem is working hard to create disturbances and polarise society. Everyone knows that bulldozer in Uttar Pradesh is adversely impacting the poor and marginalised people.”

Bareilly has remained tense since Friday after followers of Islamic cleric and Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief Tauqeer Raza Khan, carrying ‘I Love Muhammad’ banners, clashed with the police. The confrontation led to a lathi charge and stone-pelting by protesters, marking the latest escalation in a row that began weeks ago over the removal of an ‘I Love Muhammad’ poster.

A large crowd gathered near Bareilly’s Islamia Ground after Friday prayers in response to Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan’s call to raise their voices and submit a memorandum regarding the First Information Report lodged in Kanpur after the poster was taken down by the police.

Shahnawaz Alam, National Secretary of the Congress, alleged that the incident in Bareilly signified “state-sponsored anarchy.”

He said, “Such incidents will further divide the already fragmented society and disrupt communal harmony which is not in the national interest. The police action in Bareilly and the language of the Chief Minister is a grim reminder of the BJP’s long-term project to create a situation where the Muslim community feel like second-class citizens within the republic. We condemn the violence in any form, but orchestrating violence in the name of controlling crowds is unacceptable. It is called state-sponsored anarchy for creating a police state.”