Muslim leaders in India condemn killing of Hindu man over blasphemy

NEW DELHI (AA) – Prominent Indian Muslim organizations and leaders have called the murder of a Hindu man in India’s Rajasthan state on Tuesday a “disgrace to humanity and an act of defaming Islam.”

The Muslim leaders responded to a video posted on social media by two men claiming to have committed a murder of a Hindu man who supported blasphemous statements made earlier by a BJP spokeswoman. The video presented the murder as vengeance for insulting Islam. Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, a leading Muslim organization in India, said in a statement that no one has the authority to take law into their own hands.

Mobile and internet services and large gatherings remained restricted in Udaipur, a day after police arrested two Muslim men for allegedly killing a Hindu tailor. The two cleaver-wielding men filmed the act and posted it on social media and also threatened to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the same manner.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind’s President Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani strongly condemned the killing, saying: “This incident is a great challenge to the law enforcement agencies of the country. No matter whosoever is the killer, no one has the authority to take law into his own hands.”

He said Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind is against all forms of extremism and demands that strict action should be taken against such persons irrespective of their religion, caste, and ethnicity.

Ghastly murder 

Social Democratic Party of India’s National Secretary Taslim Ahmed Rehmani, denouncing the incident, said: “This ghastly murder cannot be accepted in a civilized society. I demand fast track court shall try this case and murderers must be hanged publicly.”

Asaduddin Owaisi, the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, another Muslim organization, said that no one can take law into their own hands.

“I condemn the gruesome murder in Udaipur Rajasthan. There can be no justification for it. Our party’s consistent stand is to oppose such violence,” tweeted Owaisi.

Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that both the accused have been arrested.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in the whole state after the incident. The federal government is treating the gruesome killing as a terror attack and has dispatched a team of the anti-terror probe agency National Investigation Agency (NIA) to Rajasthan.

The state government also announced the imposition of prohibitory orders for a month and cut internet services for 24 hours across the state.

In the video, the two Muslim men claimed that it was a retaliation for anti-Islam remarks made by Nupur Sharma, a former official of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Sharma made insulting remarks against the Holy Prophet of Islam (Peace Be Upon Him) in a TV debate in May, triggering a wave of condemnation at home and from the Muslim world.