In Uttar Pradesh even peacekeepers are not safe!

Lucknow/Kolkata: The cyber crime police of India’s most politically sensitive state Uttar Pradesh is unprofessional enough to act in haste. In a bid to take prompt action it did not even make an attempt to do a background check of the person against whom the complaint had been lodged.

With the killing of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari and the upcoming verdict on Babri Masjid, Uttar Pradesh has become even more communally sensitive .

Well known journalist Mohammad Anas, who remains active on social media and has large following, was detained by Allahabad (Prayagraj) Police, on the basis of a complaint lodged by someone regarding a post, which hadn’t even been posted by Anas. In fact the young journalist has many a time acted a peace maker for on social media.

In fact, few hours before getting detained, the journalist was sharing UP police’s appeal for maintaining peace and to act responsibly on social media by not sharing anything which could communally flare up things. In one of his posts, he had even praised UP police’s act.

A childhood friend of Anas, Abhinav Singh, who was in police station, when Anas was released told eNewsroom, “He goes to temples with us, participates in our festivals, we go to his house during Eid and other festivals. Anas never differentiates people because of their religion or caste. He often stands up in support of people in need. Police detention will not deter him from writing posts on social media.”

“By midnight, I was appealing to the people of UP to maintain communal harmony in such tense situation. I even asked people to refrain from making derogatory remarks against Hindu God and Goddess. But by 2 am police reached at my house at Jhunsi and asked me to come with them,”  Anas told eNewsroom over phone, after being released at 8 o’clock in the morning,

Soon after the news spread that police has picked up Anas, there was flood of solidarity messages on his social media pages. Some directly demanded the police to release him and apologise to the journalist. Those making these posts included several of Hindu friends of his who  have known him personally  for a long time.

Some netizen also reminded UP police that they should at least scan the profile and posts of Anas before picking him up from his residence.

“It was actually a simple issue, when police had got some complaint, the cyber officials should scan my posts and then decide whether to act or not. They did the same, but only after taking me to police station,” said Anas.

However, Anas claimed that police’s behaviour was good with him, none abused or harassed him.

An alumnus of Makhanlal Chaturvedi Journalism National University, Anas has worked with Zee Media also. He has been known as one who takes stand on socio-political issues.

A childhood friend of Anas, Abhinav Singh, who was in police station, when Anas was released told eNewsroom, “He goes to temples with us, participates in our festivals, we go to his house during Eid and other festivals. Anas never differentiates people  on the basis of  their religion or caste. He often stands up in support of people in need. Police detention will not deter him from writing posts on social media.”

Another friend of Anas, Utkarsh Diwedi wrote on Facebook sharing his photograph with him, “Jiskey Dil Mei Pura Hindustan Basta Ho, Usey Kiya Qaid Karegi Ye Tanashah Sarkar (How can a dictator detain a man, in whose heart, India resides).”