Protest against 'I Love Muhammad' graffiti on road turns violent in Ahilyanagar; 1 held, 30 detained
Mumbai (PTI): A protest against an 'I Love Muhammad' graffiti painted on the road in Maharashtra's Ahilyanagar turned violent on Monday, prompting police to baton-charge a stone pelting mob, officials said.
The protesters had blocked the arterial Ahilyanagar-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar road despite one person being arrested in connection with the graffiti, they added.
"The protest began this morning at Kotla in Kotwali area after someone had painted 'I Love Muhammad' on the road, which was objected to by members of the Muslim community. A complaint was lodged at Kotwali police station against this graffiti," an official said.
"Despite one person being arrested in connection with the graffiti, some people protested. Even as police urged them to maintain law and order, some persons from the mob started pelting stones. Police resorted to lathi-charge to restore normalcy," the official said.
At least 30 persons have been detained in connection with the protests, road blockade and stone pelting, Ahilyanagar Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge said.
"We used force to maintain law and order. Police is taking action against the accused persons. The situation is under control. Citizens must not believe in or spread rumours," Gharge said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is currently touring Yavatmal, said authorities will find out if there is a conspiracy to disturb social peace in the state and polarise society by putting up different kinds of boards.
"Everyone is free to practice their own religion but not to indulge in polarisation," the CM asserted.
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SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
