New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday (May 5) granted bail to a Muslim man arrested in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, over an Instagram post linked to the “I Love Mohammed” controversy. The court said his post never named any caste or community, Bar and Bench reports.Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla noted that Nadeem had been in custody since October 7, 2025, and that a chargesheet had been filed in the case. His advocate Atul Kumar said there was no likelihood of the trial concluding soon. The court granted bail on a personal bond with two sureties, according to Bar and Bench.The state opposed Nadeem’s plea, alleging his video was provocative for saying he would “slit his own neck and that of others” for the slogan “I Love Mohammed”. The police linked the slogan to incidents of unrest in Bareilly in September 2025, Bar and Bench reports.Background to the arrestIn early September 2025, Hindu residents of a Kanpur locality, Rawatpur, opposed the use of the slogan “I love Muhammad” by Muslims during Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (the Prophet’s birthday) celebrations. When members of the Muslim community insisted on retaining the slogan (on a lightboard), a heated exchange occured. The police were called.The board was removed and relocated. At the time, the police said the action was not against the slogan but because the procession had not stuck to “established routes“, the Indian Express reported a few days after the incident.An FIR was lodged based on a police officer’s complaint on September 4. It reportedly said: “an attempt was also made to deliberately start a new tradition by putting up a ‘I LOVE MUHAMMAD’ banner at one Kunnu Kabadi’s place in Rawatpur village, which resulted in communal tension and confrontation”.A few days later, police registered more FIRs against 24 people, 15 of them named, claiming communal harmony was disturbed. This followed allegations that religious posters significant to Hindus were torn during a Barawafat procession on May 5 in Rawatpur.Among those named in the FIR are the procession organisers Sharafat Hussain, Shabnoor Alam, Babu Ali, Mohammad Siraj, Fazu Rahman, Ikram Ahmad and Iqbal, the Indian Express reported.The police defended its actions by saying the banner had been raised in an area through which Ram Navami processions passed, Frontline earlier reported.Weeks later, on September 26, tensions over the police action occurred in Bareilly town when a demonstration called by cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan of the Ittehad-e-Millat Council, later called off after the administration denied permission, took place anyway.Protesters marched towards a ground, and when police stopped them, violence erupted. There were allegations of stone pelting at police by the protesters. Police used lathi charge and tear gas, and Khan was among those arrested. Police alleged a conspiracy to create unrest.Data cited by Frontline, compiled by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, indicated that between the Kanpur episode and September 23, at least 21 FIRs were lodged, more than 1,300 individuals were booked, and dozens arrested across Uttar Pradesh and other states over the ‘I Love Muhammad’ slogan.The FIR against Nadeem, filed in Muzaffarnagar’s Budhana Police Station is in addition to these cases, for it was filed on October 6. “The Budhana police station has arrested an accused for posting indecent and vulgar comments on social media,” the police wrote in a social media post, announcing the arrest.सोशल मीडिया पर अशोभनीय व अभद्र टिप्पणी करने वाले एक अभियुक्त को थाना बुढ़ाना पुलिस ने किया गिरफ्तार।#UPPolice pic.twitter.com/lCYG3k7Ilo— MUZAFFARNAGAR POLICE (@muzafarnagarpol) October 6, 2025It also wrote that nobody should make objectionable remarks on social media and respect each others’ faith. The Allahabad High Court has said Nadeem’s post did not refer to any religion or caste.Rangoli protests, ‘faked’ incidentsIn Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar (earlier Ahmednagar), a rangoli with allegedly offensive remarks led to a clash. Around 30 people were detained, NDTV reported on September 29, 2025. An FIR was registered, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said authorities would examine whether there was a “conspiracy” to disturb communal peace.In Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, four men were arrested for allegedly writing “I Love Muhammad” on temple walls in an attempt to falsely implicate Muslim neighbours in a property dispute. Police said spelling mistakes in the slogans led to the accused being identified, The Times of India reported.