- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
PROTESTS broke out in Udaipur in the north-western state of Rajasthan on Tuesday (28) after a Hindu shopkeeper was beheaded by two men for supporting former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) official Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad. Two accused were caught by the police from the state in the night.
The murder was recorded on camera and the video went viral on social media.
ALSO READ: Two Muslim men give death threat to PM Modi: ‘You lit the fire, we will douse it’
As tensions spread, internet services were suspended in the city for the next 24 hours.
The ill-fated shopkeeper, named Kanhaiya Lal, was murdered by two men who chopped his head off. They then recorded a video admitting to killing Lal over a social media post made by him in support of Sharma.
On Tuesday, a video did rounds on social media showing two men entering a tailor’s shop in Udaipur and attacking the shopkeeper with knives. In another video posted by duo, they were heard admitting to the murder and even threatening Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
In a third video, which was recorded on June 17, and emerged after Tuesday’s gruesome murder, one of the two men is heard expressing his intentions of carrying out an act similar to that in Udaipur.
Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, a state ruled by India’s opposition Indian National Congress, appealed for calm in the wake of the incident.
“I condemn the heinous murder of youth in Udaipur. Strict action will be taken against all the criminals involved in this incident and the police will go to the bottom of the crime. I appeal to all parties to maintain peace,” he said in a tweet.
उदयपुर में हुई घटना बहुत ही दुःखद है और उसकी जितनी निंदा की जाए उतनी कम है, बहुत चिंता वाली बात है कि इस प्रकार से मर्डर करना किसी का ये बहुत ही दुःखद भी है, शर्मनाक भी है। मैं समझता हूं कि माहौल ठीक करने की आवश्यकता भी है। पूरे देश के अंदर तनाव का माहौल बन गया है। pic.twitter.com/BOi3zfo1bF
— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) June 28, 2022
Asaduddin Owaisi, one of India’s prominent Muslim parliamentarians and leader of the AIMIM, condemned the murder saying there could be no justification for such act.
“Our party’s consistent stand is to oppose such violence. No one can take law in their own hands. We demand that the state govt takes strictest possible action,” he said in one tweet.
