India: Riots Erupt After Man Beheaded for Supporting Ruling Party Spokeswoman’s Anti-Islam Remarks

Two Muslim men beheaded a Hindu tailor on Tuesday in India’s western state of Rajasthan allegedly after the tailor expressed support on social media for controversial remarks by a now-former spokeswoman for the country’s ruling Hindu nationalist party.

In the remarks in question, the politician stated Islam’s prophet Muhammad allegedly consummated a marriage with one of his wives when she was nine years old, the Times of India reported on Wednesday, citing a hadith, or Islamic religious text outside of the Quran.

“Two assailants masquerading as customers entered a shop in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on Tuesday [June 28] and beheaded a tailor for a social media post supporting ex-BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] spokesperson Nupur Sharma in the row over her remarks on the [Islamic] Prophet [Muhammad],” the newspaper relayed on June 29.

“A video, purportedly of the last moments of 40-year-old Kanhaiya Lal, went viral along with another clip in which the duo, holding cleavers, owned up to the beheading and also threatened [Indian] PM [Prime Minister and BJP leader] Narendra Modi. Police soon traced suspects Mohammad Riyaz Akhtari and Gaus Mohammad in Rajsamand district, 61km [38 miles] from Udaipur [sic],” the Times of India detailed.

The suspects in the Hindu tailor’s barbaric murder allegedly posed as customers to enter his shop and gain access to him, according to a June 28 report by India’s right-wing news magazine Swarajya.

“[T]wo men, wearing skull caps, entered his shop posing as customers. While Kanhaiya was taking their measurements, one of the men attacked him,” Swarajya wrote.

Alleged video footage of the incident quickly went viral across Indian social media, sparking outrage and riots across Udaipur city and greater Rajasthan state on Tuesday. Angry Hindu mobs “forced shops and businesses to close, burnt tyres and motorcycles and pelted stones at a place of worship,” according to the Times of India.

In an effort to quell the religious violence, Rajasthan authorities imposed various forms of movement restrictions, curfews, and internet suspensions on districts state-wide on June 29.

“Prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 have been put in force across Rajasthan for a month and mobile internet services have been cut all over the state for next 24 hours [sic],” the newspaper confirmed on June 29.

“Indefinite curfew has been imposed in seven police station areas in Udaipur — Dhan Mandi, Ghantaghar, Ambamata, Surajpole, Bhupalpura, Hathipole and Savina,” the publication added.

Section 144 of India’s Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) allows government officials to enforce “restrictions on movement, carrying arms, and unlawful assembly. It is generally understood that an assembly of three or more people is prohibited under Section 144,” according to the Indian Express.

Former BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma commented on Muhammad’s biography during a live, televised debate with an Indian Muslim political leader on May 28.

“You are marrying a six-years-old girl and having sex with her when she turns nine [sic],” Sharma said in comments directed toward her debate opponent at the time. She referred to Ayesha, Muhammad’s third wife.

Ayesha was a child bride when she married a 53-year-old Muhammad, according to Princeton University’s “Islam FYI: An Educational Resource on Islam for the Public.”

“The well-established, but not altogether agreed upon, tradition of Lady Ayesha’s age at the time of marrying Prophet Muhammad comes from a hadith [saying of Muhammad] in one of the most authentic collections – Sahih al-Bukhari in which Ayesha, herself, states: ‘The Messenger of God married me when I was six, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine,'” the resource states on its website.

Sharma’s May 28 remark sparked ongoing riots and violence between Muslims and Hindus across India, forcing the BJP to apologize for the commentary and suspend Sharma’s membership in the party.