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Israel Boycott Posters: UP Police File FIR Against 10 Muslim Minors After Detaining Two, 'Beating Up' One

The boys' detainment came after Himanshu Patel, the district president of a 'Hindu Jagran Manch Yuva Vahini', complained about the posters to the Uttar Pradesh and Bareilly police on X.
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Madeeha Fatima
Apr 25 2025
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The boys' detainment came after Himanshu Patel, the district president of a 'Hindu Jagran Manch Yuva Vahini', complained about the posters to the Uttar Pradesh and Bareilly police on X.
israel boycott posters  up police file fir against 10 muslim minors after detaining two   beating up  one
A detail from the poster that the minor boys had put up in Bareilly.
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New Delhi: After detaining two Muslim minors and allegedly beating up one of them for putting up posters calling for a boycott of Israeli products, Uttar Pradesh police have now filed a first information report against 10 Muslim minors – including the two who were detained – and an adult.

Cops at the Aonla police station in Bareilly have invoked Section 197(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration.

Police had detained the two minors, aged 14 and 17, from their homes at night on April 21. The two were released 24 hours after they were picked up from their homes. The Wire is withholding their names in accordance with laws on minors.

Speaking to The Wire, the father of the 14-year-old boy who was detained said that his son was beaten up in the police station by a policeman and a local businessman, both of whom were intoxicated.

“When we pleaded to the police to let the children out, they asked us to bring other boys who were also involved in putting up the boycott posters,” he said.

On the afternoon of April 22, the father said, three other Muslim minors who had been a part of the poster campaign along with the ones detained, were taken to the police station. All five minors were kept at the station until 9 pm on April 22, their families alleged. The minors were released together after constant requests of their guardians to the South Rural district superintendent of police and the circle officer, their families said.

The 14- and 17-year-old were detained for nearly 24 hours.

The 14-year old’s father said, “My son has just passed his exams for Class 9 and other minors are also school-going children."

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and particularly Section 10 of the Act, prohibit any child alleged to be in conflict with the law to be placed in police custody or detained in a police lock-up.

The boys had decided to put up the posters calling for boycott of Israeli goods – in keeping with the global BDS movement – in response to Israel's attacks on Palestine. The posters featured the logos of popular international brands and companies seen as supporting or profiting from Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Under the poster was a line which said, “One who does not boycott Israeli goods will be a murderer of Gaza’s innocent children.”

The boys' detainment came after Himanshu Patel, the district president of a 'Hindu Jagran Manch Yuva Vahini', complained about the posters to the Uttar Pradesh and Bareilly police on X. Patel's post had a screenshot of an Instagram post with the minor boy visible in it. The Wire is withholding the link to the post for this reason. 

After the minors were released at night on April 22, members of the Bajrang Dal arrived at the police station demanding action against those involved in the poster campaign, the families said.

At 11:43 pm, inspector Sachin Kumar filed an FIR against the 10 Muslim minors and an adult for pasting posters which "contain objectionable language that spoils the harmony of the nation, and opposes and violates the foreign policy of the nation. "

Further, the FIR states that the posters have a strong possibility of creating feelings of disharmony, enmity, hatred or hostility amongst other people and to spread misleading information which may endanger the unity, sovereignty and integrity and security of India and foreign policy.

When contacted by The Wire, the officer-in-charge of the police station, Kunwar Bahadur Singh said that an investigation in the case has begun and is still underway.

Inspector Sachin Kumar, the complainant, confirmed to The Wire that he had filed an FIR regarding the boycott posters.

The police did not speak on the boys' illegal detainment.

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