Where is the country heading? A country rich in culture and heritage was an example of brotherhood is disguised. Why this whole chaos seems unending. A barbaric act of inhumanity left everyone in pain. The whole country is shaken after the gruesome murder of a tailor in Udaipur.
In a shocking incident, two men slit the throat of a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur city in broad daylight on Tuesday afternoon, triggering communal tension in the area. The victim had reportedly shared a social media post supporting suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma for her objectionable remark on Prophet Mohammad. In a video clip posted online, one of the assailants declared that they had beheaded the man and then threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well. Not only this, assailants recorded the crime on camera and circulated the video on social media.
Both accused have been arrested by the police from the Rajsamand area in the state. “The investigation, in this case, will be done under the Case Officer Scheme and by ensuring speedy investigation the criminals will be punished severely in the court,” Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted and also appealed to people to maintain peace.
On Tuesday, 38-year-old Bhilwara resident Riyaz Attari and 39-year-old Udaipur resident Ghous Mohammed beheaded tailor Kanhaiya Lal with knives for supporting former BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Mohammed. Attari is a welder who had crafted the knives, much before the Prophet’s remarks controversy, for butchery.
The tailor was recently arrested by the local police over his remarks on social media. The incident took place when the assailants entered his shop in the city’s Dhan Mandi area posing as customers. As the tailor took the measurements of one of them — who later identified himself as Riaz – attacked him with a cleaver. The other man shot the brutal incident with his mobile phone. The two men fled from the scene and later uploaded the video on social media. In another video, the alleged assailant admitted that they beheaded the tailor.
The incident has created tension in the area as local residents staged a protest and shops were closed. Shopkeepers stopped police from taking away the body, saying they will allow the removal of the corpse only after the murderers are arrested and compensation — Rs 50 lakh and a government job — given to the victim’s family.
As many as 600 police personnel were deployed in the area and internet services were suspended in the city while a curfew was imposed late at night. Meanwhile, Section 144 and curfew have been imposed in Dhanmandi, Ghantaghar, Hathipol, Ambamata, Surajpol, Bhupalpura, and Savina PS areas of the Udaipur district. This will be effective until further orders.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat said the Rajasthan government should look into the law and order of the state as it was deteriorating and the state police should take action as soon as possible.
‘Sec 144 imposed in the entire district, state. Shanti March has been cancelled…We appeal to the people to maintain peace. Leaves of police personnel were canceled & they have been asked to report back. They are being deployed in law & order duty’: Ajmer SP Vikas Sharma
Investigation into the savage Udaipur murder has revealed links of the two self-radicalized murderers with Karachi-based Sunni Islamist organization Dawat-e-Islami, which has links with Barelvi pan-Islamic Tehreek-e-Labbaik extremist organization in Pakistan, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Interrogation of the two accused revealed that the two belonged to the Sufi-Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam and had close links with Dawat-e-Islami in Karachi. While the two were self-radicalized, efforts are being made to find out whether they had any links with other extremist Sunni organizations in India including those with links with Muslim Brotherhood, according to counter-terror officials. The two have been booked under the UAPA and the case is now being handed over to National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Karachi-based Dawat-e-Islami’s aim is to spread the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah with the objective of advocating Shariah globally. It has a huge following in Pakistan and is committed to supporting the blasphemy law in the Islamic Republic.
The government has decided to take a hard stance on rising radicalization in the country, it also believes in strengthening the hands of the Muslim moderates who do not take the law into their hands. The Home Ministry is also taking a hard look at the Udaipur crime to find out whether the accused had any links with the extremist Popular Front of India (PFI) movement. The once Kerala-based PFI has risen rapidly in India and is now spread all over the country in the name of the Sunni revivalist movement.
