Will take strict legal action against use of children in 'violent protests' over Prophet remarks: NCPCR

Protests broke out outside Jama Masjid in New Delhi. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

Amid protests over controversial remarks made by two now-suspended BJP leaders against Prophet Mohammad, the apex child rights body NCPCR said that children were used in many of these "violent demonstrations" and that it would take strict legal action in the matter.

Protests erupted in several parts of the country, including outside Delhi's Jama Masjid, with hundreds of people demanding the arrest of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal over their controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chief Priyank Kanoongo has claimed that children were used in many of these "violent demonstrations".

"Instances of use of children in violent demonstrations have come to notice again today. Strict legal action will be taken and not a single extremist ('charampanthi') will be spared," Kanoongo said in a tweet in Hindi. He said there are laws in place and the NCPCR will not let children be ¿used by these extremists¿. "We will look into all the protests where children were used and then we will issue individual notices to police to take action against people who used children and also seek registration of FIR against them,¿ Kanoongo told PTI.

Earlier, the NCPCR chief had asked the Uttar Pradesh Police to probe if children were engaged by "anti-social" elements in the recent communal violence in Kanpur. The communal violence in parts of Kanpur during protests against the remarks on Prophet Mohammad last week left at least 40 people, including 20 police personnel, injured.

Also Read: Remarks against Prophet: Situation across Maharashtra under control, says Home minister Dilip Walse Patil

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.