Thousands protest in India after beheading of Hindu man
New Delhi, Jun 30 (EFE).- Thousands of people on Thursday came out on the streets of Udaipur, a city in western India, raising slogans and carrying Hindu symbols, after the brutal killing of a Hindu tailor due to religious strife.
The march, called by several Hindu groups, passed through the city center and the place where Kanhaiya Lal Teli, a 45-year-old tailor, was beheaded on Tuesday, despite the curfew imposed in the city after the crime.
The protesters obtained police permission and security for the march called by Sarv Hindu Samaj (entire Hindu community), even though shops remained closed and authorities banned other public gatherings.
Although the event was planned as a silent march, saffron-colored flags were waved and Hindu right-wing slogans raised by the protesters during the rally, which concluded peacefully.
Teli was murdered in his shop by at least two men who, pretending to be customers, entered the premises on a busy street of the city in the western state of Rajasthan.
A video posted by the alleged killers shows the tailor being killed. The perpetrators claimed their actions were a message to Hindu leaders for offenses against Islam.
The footage sparked immediate response from the people who took to the streets demanding punishment for those responsible, once again fueling tensions between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority in India – relations that have been agitated in recent years.
According to local media reports, the tailor was assassinated days after he posted a message on social media in support of Nupur Sharma, a former spokesperson of the ruling party BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two alleged perpetrators were arrested Tuesday from the town of Rajsamand, also in Rajasthan, hours after the killing. The police have indicated the possibility of more people being involved, as the killing was a pre-planned act.
India, a country of more than 1.35 billion people, has in the past experienced bloody clashes between Hindus and Muslims that have left thousands dead and injured.
The coming to power of the Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi has coincided with radicalization among the Hindu majority and a disproportionate increase in attacks on the Muslim minority, according to human rights organizations. EFE
igr/ia
