HIMANSHU SHARMA AFP MUMBAI - Fearing outbreaks of religious violence, police in the Indian state of Rajasthan banned public gatherings and suspended internet services a day after two Muslims posted a video claiming responsibility for slaying a Hindu man.
Hawa Singh Ghumaria, a senior police officer in the northwestern state, told reporters on Wednesday that the crime had sent shockwaves through the country, and that we are under strict orders to prevent any form of protest or demonstrations scheduled to condemn the murder. Two bearded men, branded a meat cleaver, said they were avenging an insult to Prophet Mohammad, caused by the victim.
They also alluded to Nupur Sharma, a former spokeswoman for the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party whose remarks about the Prophet earlier this month triggered domestic and international outrage.
Ghumaria described the bloody attack on Kanhaiya Lal as an act of terror and said two suspects were being interrogated by federal investigators.
Two assailants slashed Lal's head and throat in an attack while he was taking measurements, according to Bhawarlal Thoda, a city administrator in Udaipur.
According to Thoda, the tailor had been arrested over a social media post in support of the BJP spokeswoman that was traced to his mobile phone, and that after being released, Lal had told police on June 15 that he was being threatened by some group.
The authorities said they had suspended Internet services in several parts of Rajasthan to prevent the circulation of the video shared by the accused.
The mood is tense and almost all shops are closed today, according to Thoda. The city of around half a million people is known as one of the major tourist attractions in the desert state, and is known for its luxurious hotels, including the famous Taj Lake Palace.
One of the attackers threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his blade would find him too, in a video clip posted online.
India has a ghast history of religious violence, and thousands of people have been killed since the country became independent from British colonial rule in 1947.
Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has been trying to break up with a Hindu first agenda that has stoked tensions in a country where Muslims account for around 13 percent of its 1.4 billion people.
The BJP suspended Sharma from the party earlier this month and expelled another official, but the furore has not died down.
A senior BJP official in New Delhi wants anonymity to be used to avoid being drawn into the controversy, so we can only urge people to stop sharing the video of the heinous crime committed in Rajasthan and put an end to rising communal tension.
Prime Minister Modi hasn't commented on the issue.