Who is Mufti Salman Azhari: Cleric in eye of ‘hate speech’ storm, held by Gujarat police repeatedly

Azhari gained a substantial following, particularly among the youth, due to social media. His speeches on social media platforms started going viral, following which his online presence grew. His PR team constantly posts videos of the religious sermons he delivers across the country.

Even after his arrest, Azhari’s team has regularly been posting updates on the status of the various cases against him on his social media handles. While he has over 92,000 followers on X, he has 7.83 lakh followers on Instagram.

Azhari was apprehended in Mumbai on February 5 by the Gujarat police in connection with a “hate speech” that he allegedly delivered in Junagadh on January 31. Subsequently, Kutch East police registered a case and arrested him on February 8 for delivering a provocative speech in Samakhiyari village in the Kutch district on January 31.

A crowd of nearly 3,000 people had gathered outside the Ghatkopar police station in Mumbai, from where he was taken by a police team from Gujarat that had come to the city to arrest him. Eventually, the Mumbai Police had to carry out lathicharge to ensure the road was not blocked by the crowds.

Later, a third case was registered against him by the Gujarat police in which, in addition to Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153(B) (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 505(2) (making statements conducive to public mischief), Azhari was also charged under Section 298 for allegedly uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person while speaking in Modasa. The police also invoked the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against him for making alleged derogatory remarks against the SC community.

Azhari had been granted bail in the two cases registered against him earlier. However, after receiving bail, as he was on his way out, the Vadodara Police invoked the PASA against him, following which he was arrested again and is currently behind bars.

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM’s Mumbai unit leader Waris Pathan said that their lawyers were helping Azhari’s team to ensure that due process is followed in the matter. In Hyderabad, senior Congress leader Uzma Shakir was taken into preventive custody Saturday when she sat on a protest in front of the state BJP office demanding the revocation of the PASA invoked against Azhari.