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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court granted bail to a Muslim man arrested for allegedly sharing an “objectionable post” on Instagram with the phrase “I love Muhammed.”

Nadeem had been in custody since October 7, 2025, Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla observed, in a case where the post did not even mention any caste or community.

“The supposed objectionable post made on the Instagram handle by the applicant does not name any particular caste or community,” the judge said in an order dated May 4.

Nadeem had earlier appealed that he was falsely implicated in the first information report (FIR) registered against him at the Muzaffarnagar police station. His counsel argued a chargesheet has been submitted and the trial was unlikely to conclude soon.

The police held that Nadeem made “insensitive comments,” saying he was willing to “sever his own neck and that of others” for the “I Love Mohammad” slogan. It linked the slogan to communal tensions and breaches of peace in select regions of Uttar Pradesh following the Kanpur incident in September 2025.

Taking into account the duration of his incarceration and lack of criminal record, the Court ordered his release on bail.

I Love Muhammad protests

Tensions first surfaced in Kanpur in September last year when residents of Rawatpur objected to posters with “I Love Muhammad” texts during the Barawafat procession on Milad un Nabi. The situation escalated and over the course of two months, 4,505 Muslims were booked and 285 arrested for the nationwide “I Love Muhammad” protests that followed.

During the arrests, the police rarely provided information or, rather, refused to give details, according to a report by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR). It said that although a majority of these protests had been peaceful with no slogan raising or vandalism and arson, they were met with police firing, manhandling, lathi charge, property seizures and mass arrests.