Indian police on Friday killed two people and arrested more than 130 people during demonstrations organized by Muslims to protest claims made by an Indian ruling party spokesman about the Prophet Mohammed, a policeman confirmed to AFP yesterday.
Anger has been prevalent in the Muslim world since last week after a spokeswoman for India’s ruling party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, commented on the relationship between the Prophet and his younger wife Aisha during a debate on a television program. Muslims took to the streets in massive protests across India and neighboring countries after Friday prayers to denounce the remarks, and police opened fire on crowds in the eastern city of Ranchi.
“The police were forced to open fire to disperse the demonstrators and some of them were shot dead, killing two people,” a police officer in Ranchi, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
Police said the demonstrators violated orders not to go from the mosque to the market and threw broken bottles and stones as police tried to disperse the crowd.
The authorities turned off the Internet in the city and imposed a curfew.
Uttar Pradesh state police fired tear gas to disperse at least one gathering after several protests took place in the northern state.
Most of the protests ended peacefully, but in some cities, protesters threw stones at police and injured at least one policeman, Avanich Awasti, a spokesman for the state government, said.
In addition, mass demonstrations took place on Friday in a number of Asian countries condemning the statements of an official representative of the ruling party of India, “insulting” the Prophet Muhammad. Since then, about 20 countries have called in Indian ambassadors, and the BJP has tried to limit the damage by removing the official from office and saying it respects all religions. Friday saw the largest public demonstrations so far in response to the allegations, with Bangladesh police estimating the number of demonstrators across the country at more than 100,000 after Friday prayers.
In Pakistan, after Friday prayers in Lahore, a demonstration was held at the invitation of the radical religious movement “Labbeck”, about five thousand supporters of the previously banned group gathered in the city center.
to protest and demand that the government take stronger action against India over the comments.