On Ram Navami in Dani Limda, Ahmedabad, a political scuffle between BJP and Congress workers over the placement of party flags quickly escalated into a tense situation outside the historic Peer Kamal Masjid, raising serious concerns about press freedom and police conduct in the state.
According to eyewitnesses, a group of BJP workers gathered outside the mosque around 2 AM, raising slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” — an act perceived as deliberately provocative given the religious sensitivities of the area. Senior journalist Sahal Qureshi was on the ground, covering the developments for Desh Live, when the situation took a shocking turn.
Police Inspector Rawat allegedly approached Qureshi’s cameraperson, forcibly seized his mobile phone, and switched off the recording — halting the documentation of the event. Eyewitnesses also report that PI Rawat issued direct threats to the journalist team.
Shortly after, fellow journalist Rais Sheikh arrived at the scene to support Qureshi. However, he too was allegedly subjected to verbal abuse and aggressive behavior by the same officer.
“PI Rawat snatched my phone abruptly while I was shooting a video and turned off the camera recording. He even accused me of inciting anger among the crowd, and asked the fellow policemen to take me in. When I asked him to return my phone, he said that he wants to check it. Later, after several requests and intervention by another journalist named Rais Syed, my phone was returned to me,” Qureshi said, while talking to The Observer Post.
On the last Friday (Alvida Jumma) of Ramadan, Muslims who peacefully protested against the Waqf Bill with placards — without obstructing roads — were detained by the same inspector. In contrast, the group of BJP supporters not only obstructed the street but loudly chanted communal slogans outside a mosque — yet faced no police action.
Qureshi argues that this represents the selective enforcement of law — and a worrying glimpse into what is being marketed as the “Gujarat Model” and Prime Minister Modi’s so-called “New Idea of India.”
“The police officer who detains Muslims protesting silently against the Waqf Bill with placards (without blocking the road) outside the mosque on the last Friday of Ramadan, is the same police inspector who cannot detain BJP workers who block the road, sit in the middle, and chant Jai Shree Ram slogans in front of the mosque. Instead, he threatens the journalists reporting on the entire incident and snatches their mobile cameras. Is this the Gujarat Model? Is this PM Modi’s New Idea of India?,” Qureshi wrote on X.
Desh Live and Qureshi strongly condemn any attempt to suppress free press and calls for an immediate investigation into this misuse of power.
