For the last month, Indian police have raided multiple markets and homes, arresting Muslim men in states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s Hindu nationalist party. Some of their homes have been bulldozed.

The genesis of their alleged crime is common: writing, ?I Love Muhammad?, a reference to Prophet Muhammad, on posters, t-shirts, or in social media posts. The authorities say the expression is threatening ?public order?.

So far, at least 22 cases have been registered against more than 2,500 Muslims. At least 40 people have been arrested across multiple states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to the nonprofit Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).

So, what is happening? How and where did this start? And is it illegal to say ?I Love Muhammad? in India?

What?s happening?

On September 4, Muslims living in Kanpur city of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh were observing Eid al-Milad al-Nabi, the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, when a neighbourhood put up an illuminated board saying, ?I love Muhammad?.

But the board, mimicking the popular ?I Love New York? signage that has been copied all over the world, drew criticism from some local Hindus. Initially, their complaint alleged that the illuminated board was a new introduction to traditional festivities on the occasion, when Uttar Pradesh?s laws bar new additions to public religious celebrations. About 20 percent of Kanpur?s population is Muslim.

However, based on complaints, the police filed a case against two dozen people on much more serious charges: promoting enmity on the grounds of religion. The charge carries a punishment of up to five years in jail if the accused individual is convicted.

The Kanpur episode drew widespread criticism from Muslim political leaders, and protests against the police action spread to other states, including Telangana in southern India, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west, and in Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir in the north. The ?I love Muhammad? hoardings and writings came up across the country ? from people?s social media handles to t-shirts.

Nearly 270km (168 miles) away from Kanpur, in Uttar Pradesh?s Bareilly, a group of people participating in a demonstration called by a local imam against the Kanpur arrests, violently clashed with the police on September 26.

The police hit back with a crackdown, arresting 75 people, including the imam, Tauqeer Raza, his relatives and his aides. At least four buildings belonging to the accused individuals have been bulldozed by the local authorities.

In recent years, hundreds of Indian Muslims have lost their homes to such demolitions, which are often carried out without any notice issued by authorities, or any court order. India?s Supreme Court has observed that demolitions cannot be used as a form of extra-legal punishment, warning that state authorities must give prior notice before razing any property. Yet, on the ground, that order is often not followed, say activists.

Meanwhile, dozens of other Muslims have been arrested in different states ? including some in Modi?s home state of Gujarat ? for social media posts and videos carrying the ?I love Muhammad? slogan.

India?s constitution guarantees the freedom of religion and the right to express it. Article 25 protects every individual?s freedom to practise their religion. Citizens are also protected under Article 19(1)(a), which guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression, unless it directly incites violence or hatred.

In the cases of people arrested as part of the ?I Love Muhammad? crackdown, the police have mostly charged them under legal provisions that bar large gatherings aimed at committing ?mischief?, or for acts that allegedly provoke religious tensions. However, these provisions have been applied against those arrested for social media posts, or wearing t-shirts with ?I Love Muhammad? emblazoned on them.

Nadeem Khan, the national coordinator of APCR, the nonprofit that has been tracking these cases, has fought previous lawsuits against government officials for similarly targeting Muslims for social media expressions, or when their homes have been bulldozed.

Khan told Al Jazeera that authorities were carefully using legal provisions that focus not on the ?I Love Muhammad? expression itself, but on alleged offences carried out by those who used the expression or protested against related police crackdowns.

?They know that there is no law that criminalizes just the mere expression of ?I Love Muhammad?,? Khan said.

Khan noted that across India, images of Hindu gods wielding their traditional weapons have long been commonplace. ?These images are at every corner of the country; should it also offend or threaten all Muslims then?? he asked. ?Everyone should understand that the government cannot criminalize a religion like this,? he added, referring to Islam.

Since 2014, when Modi took over the power in New Delhi, India has consistently slid in a range of international democratic indices.

Criminalizing people?s right to freedom of expression and religious belief sets a deeply troubling precedent, said Aakar Patel, the chair of Amnesty International India?s board.

?Targeting people for slogans such as ?I Love Muhammad?, which is peaceful and devoid of any incitement or threat, does not meet the threshold for criminal restriction under either Indian constitutional law or international human rights law,? Patel told Al Jazeera.

?Public order concerns must be addressed proportionately and cannot justify the blanket suppression of religious identity or expression,? he added.

?The role of the state is to safeguard rights equally, not to police expressions of belief,? said Amnesty?s Patel. ?Upholding constitutional and international commitments is not optional; it is a legal obligation.?

Critics say that the crackdown is only the latest instance of Indian Muslims facing marginalization, violence or the targeted brunt of the law since Modi came to power in 2014.

In the past 11 years, the incidents of hate speech targeting religious minorities have skyrocketed. Documented instances of hate speech jumped from 668 in 2023 to 1,165 last year, a rise of about 74 percent. A significant majority of these incidents happened in BJP-governed states or places where elections were upcoming.

Increasingly, local Hindu-Muslim disputes now rapidly transform into national issues, said Asim Ali, a political analyst based in Delhi.

?There is an entire ecosystem in place, from pliant media to social media organization, to spread this hate rapidly,? said Ali. ?And the law is read in such a way that any expression of religious identity, especially of Muslims, can be seen as inciting religious hatred,? he added.

After the ?I Love Muhammad? episode in Kanpur, BJP leaders in Modi?s own constituency, Varanasi, put up posters saying, ?I Love Bulldozer? at major intersections of the city, in a reference to the bulldozing of houses of the accused.

And in India, there is growing frustration among Muslims, especially youth, where they see that one set of rules is not applied for all, when it comes to matters of cultural identity and eating habits, said Kidwai.

Several of the accused, or arrested, as part of the ?I Love Muhammad? crackdown, include young adult Muslims, according to data from APCR, including those who were arrested for social media posts.

The crackdown on ?I Love Muhammad? expression risks alienating young Muslim adults even more, said Ali. ?In theory, everyone is already guilty and can face action for just being,? he told Al Jazeera.

?It is getting difficult to imagine what the future may hold now,? he said. ?The tempo of hate is increasing day by day.? (Al Jazeera, excluding headline)

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