In the wake of clashes in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly last Friday during a protest in support of “I love Muhammad” campaign, local cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, the Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) president, was arrested among other accused, and sent to 14-day judicial custody. The Bareilly police have accused Tauqeer Raza, 65, of allegedly “masterminding” the violence. He is a descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan – the founder of the Barelvi sect, who is popularly known as Aala Hazrat. He is the younger brother of Maulana Subhan Raza Khan, the “gaddi nasheen” (custodian) of the Bareilly dargah which is the shrine of Ahmed Raza Khan. “This underscores Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan’s continuing influence and strategic role in UP politics,” said Nafees Khan.