Controversial Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari was found brutally murdered in Lucknow on October 18. He had earlier been arrested on charges of blasphemy in 2015 and was a vocal proponent of Hindutva. A fringe radical Islamist outfit, Al-Hind brigade claimed responsibility for the murder. The communal sensitivity of the matter led to a speedy investigation and arrest of seven radicalised youths as suspects within a week of the murder.
Crux of the Matter
Kamlesh Tiwari had been stabbed 15 times, shot and had his throat slashed in a brutal execution style murder.
When the fringe Hindutva leader had made derogatory statements about Prophet Muhammad in 2015, fringe radical Islamist elements had called for his head.
The murder happened within a few days of the final hearings of the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case.
The UP police conducted a speedy investigation of the homicide case with co-operation other state forces and Anti Terrorism Squad. Ashfaq Hussain and Moinuddin Pathan had been nabbed by Gujarat ATS at the Gujarat-Rajasthan border. A total of 7 alleged conspirators have been arrested so far.
The swift action by the police forces has prevented the sensitive matter from devolving into a major communal conflagration.
Curiopedia
Blasphemy Laws in India – In 1860, laws were created in British India that made it a “crime to disturb a religious assembly, trespass on burial grounds, insult religious beliefs or intentionally destroy or defile a place or an object of worship, punishable by up to 10 years in jail.” The British-era section 295A of the penal code was introduced in 1927 to prevent hate speech that insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of any class of citizen with deliberate and malicious intention to outrage their religious feelings but the main purpose of this law has been to maintain “public order in a multireligious and religiously sensitive society.” An important difference between the offence in the Indian Penal Code and English common law is that the defendant must have a “deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings” in the Indian code while English common law had no such inclusion. Section 295A has, nevertheless, been used a number of times to prevent free and honest discussion on religious issues and remains a threat to freedom of expression. The same section 295A appears in the penal codes of Pakistan and Myanmar where it is used as a blasphemy law. More Info
Curated Coverage
Comentarios