In Indian Kashmir, police arrested a young man for posting a video threatening to behead a former ruling party spokeswoman who had made some of the statements, officials said. The video, which was released on YouTube, has been withdrawn by the authorities. Muslims have taken to the streets across India in recent weeks to protest the anti-Islamic comments of two members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata (BJP). Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Clashes broke out between Muslims and Hindus and in some cases between protesters and police in several areas. Police in Uttar Pradesh have arrested more than 300 people in connection with the riots. read more Some in India’s Muslim minority see the comments as the latest case of pressure and humiliation under the BJP rule on issues ranging from freedom of worship to the use of hijab headscarves. The BJP suspended Nupur Sharma’s spokeswoman and expelled another leader, Naveen Kumar Jindal, for the comments, which also sparked diplomatic controversy with many Muslim countries. Police have filed charges against the two and the government has said the comments do not reflect its views. Muslim groups have called for their arrest, and some hardline Hindu groups have called them brave and nationalist politicians. A bulldozer demolishes the house of a Muslim man accused by Uttar Pradesh authorities of involvement in riots last week following comments about the Prophet Muhammad by members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party in India, P June 12. 2022. Authorities claim the house was built illegally. REUTERS / Ritesh Shukla read more Over the weekend, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered officials to demolish any illegal facilities and homes of people accused of involvement in riots there last week, a BJP spokesman said. The home of a suspected rioter whose daughter is a Muslim Muslim rights activist was demolished amid heavy police presence Sunday. The property of two more people accused of throwing stones after Friday prayers was also demolished in the state. Mrityunjay Kumar, Adityanath’s media consultant, posted on Twitter a photo of a bulldozer demolishing a building, saying “Unruly elements are remembered, every Friday is followed by a Saturday”. Opposition leaders said the Adityanath government was using an unconstitutional method to silence protesters. On Sunday, Jidal said his family was under constant threat and some of his followers said a slow bomb had been defused near his New Delhi home. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not yet commented on the community unrest. In the eastern state of West Bengal, authorities imposed an emergency law banning public gatherings in the Haura industrial area until June 16. The president of the BJP in West Bengal staged a sit-in protest on Sunday, accusing neighboring Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim nation, of inciting violence in the state. Last week, countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iran – India’s main trading partners – staged diplomatic protests to apologize to the Monti government for its comments. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional references by Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar, Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow. Writes Neha Arora, Rupam Jain. Editing by Kim Coghill and Angus MacSwan Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
