'Another Pulwama': Udaipur killer's links with BJP point to another pre-planned scheme

Amid heightened tensions in India over the recent brutal killing of a Hindu tailor in Udaipur, fresh details about the incident from the neighbouring country on Saturday revealed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had links with one of the killers for many years, hinting at a pre-planned scheme.

Ashok Swain, a professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, questioned whether the Udaipur incident could be "another Pulwama", which many believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had planned to consolidate his grip on the country in February 2019.

Read more: Indian police arrest 'masterminds' behind murder of Hindu tailor: officials

"Is Udaipur another Pulwama? The Killer, who killed a Hindu in the name of Islam, is with the leader of the Hindu Right-Wing ruling party," wrote Swain while sharing a photo on his official Twitter handle

In another tweet, he said that the Muslim man who had brutally killed a Hindu in Udaipur was being accused as an Islamic radical with a Pakistani connection. "Still, they are searching for that evidence, but it is for sure that he was actively working for India's ruling Hindu right-wing party, BJP," he added.

He said that despite Indian Supreme Court's statement, police are yet to arrest BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma over her blasphemous remarks against the Prophet (PBUH).

"Nupur Sharma insulted the Prophet [PBUH], and there was an international uproar and domestic unrest; Supreme Court found her responsible for all these, but the police say they do not find her to arrest through police is providing her security cover. And, this is no joke."

Swain suggested that Sharma is just an "instrument", urging the top court to take courage to name the "Supreme Lord".

He also criticised the arrest of Indian journalist Mohammad Zubair, who had allegedly "insulted religious beliefs" in India on Twitter years ago. "They have arrested Mohammed Zubair since Monday but don't know who had complained against him or even the complaint. And, this is not a joke," he added.

The Modi regime's decision to transfer the Udaipur incident to the country's National Investigation Agency (NIA) has drawn questions from the Congress, the country's main opposition party.

Congressman Pawan Khera, in reference to various media reports that suggested a relationship existed between the accused Riyaz Attari and a BJP official, said: "We did our research on those claims and found old Facebook posts of Rajasthan BJP leaders where Riyaz Attari was mentioned as 'BJP karyakarta'."

One of the murderers of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal, whose beheading was captured on camera and made public online, is Mohammad Riyaz Attari. The murder was committed, according to Riyaz Attari and Ghous Muhammad, to avenge the blasphemous remarks after social media posts by Kanhaiya in favour of Nupur Sharma had been made.

"What could be more evident than this? Riyaz Attari was present at events of BJP leaders. BJP leaders referred to him as 'bhai'. What is happening in this country?" Pawan Khera said.

"When the Centre ordered the NIA probe, we welcomed it. Our chief minister (Ashok Gehlot) assured assistance to the NIA. But now we are raising this question: Did the Centre order the NIA probe hurriedly to hide this information about Riyaz Kattari," Pawan Khera said.

Also, the way the video of Kanhaiya Lal's killing went viral on social media and the response that followed points to the said scheme. Analysts believe there could not be an attempt more foolish than this to turn the tide. Kanhaiya Lal, the victim, was first arrested over posting inappropriate content on the social media but he was released soon after.

The arrest made him known among the locals. He wasn't provided police protection despite his requests to the authorities concerned.

The scheme was aimed to project Muslims, who were known as a suppressed minority, as terrorists.

It is the Modi administration's history to cross all limits to create distraction. Pulwama incident took place when there was a need to deflect attention from the Rafale jet scandal and when votes from the lower caste Hindus were needed.

Then own people attacked the Kabul temple to shed a bad light on the Sikh community.

Also read: Hindu activists, academics condemn BJP's blasphemous remarks

Experts say that the Modi administration must stop this heinous game and the Udaipur incident must be probed by an independent authority.

Simultaneously, the campaign against Islam and Indian Muslims must be seized, as well as checks should be made on the identity of the two men who committed the crime and made it viral on social media.

The BJP government turning a blind eye to the campaign and encouraging hate can lead to further such occurrences.

The entire Muslim world is concerned at the rising tide of Islamophobia in India, which is an extremely dangerous trend not for the country but the region and the world.

The timeline of the Udaipur incident:

• May 27: Journalist Muhammad Zubair posted Nupur Sharma's video on Twitter
• June 5: Iran, Kuwait and Qatar summoned Indian envoy to register their protest
• June 7: Nupur Sharma was suspended and provided state security
• June 9: NSA Ajit Doval met Iranian envoy and assured action against culprits
• June 10: Protests erupted across India
• June 11: Kanhaiya Lal was arrested for supporting Sharma on Twitter
• June 16: Kanhaiya Lal was released from prison after five days
• June 17: Riaz recorded video of threatening Lal, but released it after the killing
• June 27: Muhammad Zubair was arrested
• June 28: Ghous Muhammad and Riaz beheaded Lal in Udaipur
• June 29: The two suspects were arrested in addition to five others

Muslims living about 3 kilometres from the tailor's shop where the victim was killed said they felt nervous and feared a social and economic boycott by powerful Hindus residing in Udaipur.

"I know what has been done is barbaric but the community should not be held responsible for the deed of two people," said Mohammad Farukh, a medical representative living in a Muslim-dominated area of the city.

Also read: India's ruling party suspends official over comments about Islam

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board called the incident "highly condemnable", adding that it was against both Indian law and Islamic strictures.

However, despite all the explanations from the Muslim community in India, the incident has sparked a furious response on social media, including calls for reprisal attacks against the country's Muslim minority which seem to be part of a grand plan by the fascist Modi regime to further divide the country.

India has a long history of communal violence and authorities have shut down internet connections and imposed a curfew in the city where the attack took place to prevent unrest.

But social media platforms have been consumed by angry reactions to the killing, with some users demanding "violent retribution" against both the accused murderers and other Muslims.

Members of public Telegram groups dedicated to promoting and defending Hinduism called on each other to pick up weapons and attack Muslims or discussed the virtues of storming a police station to attack the two accused men.

The far-right Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) used social media to issue a nationwide protest call against Islamist terrorism and complain that Muslims had routinely upset the religious sentiments of India's majority religion.

"You should be afraid of the day when Hindus too start giving reply to the insult," senior VHP figure Surendra Kumar Jain said in a video posted online, and watched nearly 75,000 times across Twitter and Facebook.

'Hindu lives matter' goes viral

A day after his murder, Lal's name had been mentioned more than 200,000 times on Twitter, along with a grab bag of hashtags condemning the attack.

The hashtag "Hindu lives matter" was being posted more than 2,000 times an hour on Thursday.

Since coming to power nationally in 2014, Modi's party has been accused by rights groups and foreign governments of championing discriminatory policies towards India's 200-million strong Muslim minority.

Amnesty this month said authorities had waged a "vicious" crackdown on Muslims who took to the streets to protest Sharma's remarks, including by demolishing homes with bulldozers.

Read more: India asks social media firms to remove content justifying killing of a Hindu

Since the attack on Lal, party members have taken to social media to criticise Muslim nations that had complained about Sharma's comments for remaining silent on the killing.

Several also took aim at Indian journalist Mohammed Zubair, who had helped draw attention to the remarks by Sharma that eventually saw her suspended from the BJP.

In one tweet, Kapil Mishra, a BJP politician, accused Zubair and his supporters of being "responsible" for the tailor's death.

Zubair, who has drawn frequent attention to hate speech by Hindu fringe groups, was arrested on Monday.

He remains in custody, with police citing a four-year-old tweet about a Hindu god they said had been the subject of complaints by Hindu groups.

Police opened an investigation into Sharma this month after a complaint by a member of the public about her remarks, but she has not been arrested and her current whereabouts are unknown.