Religious War: Hindu Man Allegedly Killed And Filmed By 2 Muslim Men In India Over Prophet Remarks Row

[ODUNEWS] June 29 – Tensions were high on Wednesday in the western Indian city of Udaipur, a day after police arrested two Muslim men accused of slitting a Hindu tailor’s throat and posting a video of it on social media, in a brutal attack representing a dramatic escalation of communal violence in a country riven by deep religious polarization.

The killing comes after months of rising tensions between Hindus and Muslims and has raised fears it will spark increased violence.

In recent months, there has been a spate of attacks by Hindu nationalists on minority groups — especially Muslims — who have been targeted for everything from their food and clothing style to interfaith marriages. Muslim homes have also been demolished using bulldozers in some Indian states, in what critics call a growing pattern of “bulldozer justice” against the minority group.

The animosity worsened in May when two spokespeople from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party made speculative remarks that were seen as insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha. Both were later suspended by Modi’s party.

The tailor who was slain on Tuesday, identified as 48-year-old Kanhaiya Lal, had reportedly shared a social media post supporting one of the spokespeople who were suspended for the Prophet Muhammad’s remarks, according to local media.

The two men who were arrested a few hours after the attack, identified as local Udaipur residents Gos Mohammad and Riyaz Akhtari, posted a second video of themselves in the aftermath of the killing, accusing Lal of blasphemy and threatening to kill Modi in the same way, smiling as they sat on a couch, brandishing long blood-covered knives.

In the video of the attack itself, one of the assailants can be seen being measured by the tailor, while the other one films.

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