New Delhi, India – Two teenagers have been killed in violence in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand as police crack down on protests across the country over humiliating remarks against the Prophet Muhammad by two leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP).
The families of 14-year-old Mudasir and 19-year-old Sahil Ansari confirmed the death before Al Jazeera, claiming police used disproportionate force against protesters who marched in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, after Friday prayers for arrest. of two BJP leaders.
Dozens of protesters were injured after the protests turned violent. A senior police officer in Ranchi was also injured, according to local media reports. A witness told Al Jazeera that the situation had worsened after Hindus staged counter-protests.
Several calls to Ranchi police went unanswered. We will update the story once we receive the police response.
The BJP removed its spokesman Nupur Sharma for insulting remarks against the Prophet of Islam and expelled another leader, Navin Jindal, over his anti-Islamic tweet following a diplomatic backlash from Muslim countries. The Hindu Nationalist Party said the insulting remarks did not reflect the government’s position and that the comments were made by “strange elements”.
Mudasir was shot in the head by police and died of his injuries at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, his uncle Shahid Ayubi told Al Jazeera.
Sahil Faizan’s brother said he was hit in the back by a bullet while returning home after prayer. “The bullet tore his kidney and he died in hospital after a while,” Faizan told Al Jazeera, adding that his brother had not even taken part in the protests. Sahil was running a battery repair shop in the city.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the family’s allegations. However, a local news agency confirmed that they had died from gunshot wounds.
A Ranchi police officer told AFP that “police were forced to open fire to disperse the protesters … which led to the deaths of two”.
“The job of the police is to defend, not to shoot.”
The bodies of Mudasir and Sahil were handed over to the families late at night as the administration imposed curfew-like restrictions, including shutting down mobile internet services in the city, ostensibly as a security measure.
“Mudasir was a child, only 14 years old, and he was waiting for the graduation result,” Ayubi said in a broken voice. “He took part in the protests and is no longer with us. He was the only child of his parents. We are shocked. “
The family called on the government to “imprison Mudassir’s killers and punish them severely.”
Indian Muslims burn effigy with portraits of Nupur Sharma, spokesman for ruling Hindu nationalist party [Bikas Das/AP Photo]
Ayubi blamed the administration for the violence, saying police had done “badly”. “There are thousands of ways to control civil protests such as water cannons, rubber bullets, air fire, but they shoot directly at the head and body,” he said.
Irfan Ansari, a Muslim lawmaker from Congress who is part of the state’s ruling coalition, also criticized the government for the way the protests were run. “The job of the police is to defend, not to shoot,” he tweeted in Hindi, questioning the style of work of the city police chief.
Ansari demanded compensation of five million rupees ($ 64,000) and government work for the families of the deceased.
Al Jazeera tried to call Anshuman Kumar, Ranchi City Police Chief, to get a police response, but the calls were not answered.
Friday’s protests against the prophet were seen in a number of cities and states, including the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and the capital New Delhi. The protests in India coincided with massive demonstrations in South Asia against comments seen as offensive to the Islamic prophet and his wife, Aisha.
The right-wing party, which condemned insults to religious figures, also asked its speakers to be “extremely cautious” on religious issues in a prime-time “debate” on Indian news channels.
Police in New Delhi on Thursday filed lawsuits against the two BJP members and others – including a Muslim lawmaker and a journalist – for “hate speech” and other charges.
“Pressed and traumatized”
The protests turned violent in several places in Uttar Pradesh – India’s most populous state – as police used force to quell the protests. In Prayagrad, Uttar Pradesh, videos circulated on social media showed police beating protesters with sticks while arresting several. Similar scenes were reported from the cities of Moradabad and Saharanpur, where Muslims took to the streets demanding the arrest of Sharma and Jindal.
State police have arrested more than 200 people, including activists in the Muslim community.
Data shared by police with Al Jazeera show that 48 people were arrested in Saharanpur, 68 in Prayagradj, 50 in Hatras, 25 in Moradabad, 8 in Ferozabad and 28 in Ambedkarnagar.
Police in Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, carried out night raids on the home of student leader Afrin Fatima, arresting her father, Mohammed Javed, a mother and sister.
“First a police party came around 8:30 pm and took my father away, and then they came at 11:30 pm and detained my mother and sister. The third time they came at 2:30 in the morning to detain me, but we resisted and since then the police have cut off our house, “Fatima told Al Jazeera by phone.
“We are only women and children at home. We feel pressured and traumatized. The police asked us to leave the house locked.
Friday’s protests against the prophet were seen in a number of cities and states, including the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. [Bikas Das/AP Photo]
Fatima said police accused her father of being “the mastermind of the city protests”, which she rejected. “My father did not take part in the protests, but he is active in civil society and a prominent Muslim voice in the city and that is why he is focused on him.
She said police had not told them where her parents and sister had been taken. “I have no idea where my father, mother and sister are. I’m worried about their safety. My father is diabetic and needs an insulin injection every night.
Leaders of the Muslim community have condemned the “unbridled” use of force by police in Ranchi and Uttar Pradesh.
SQR Elijah, president of the Indian Prosperity Party, said police actions were “unjustified as protests are a democratic right of the people”.
He said Muslims took to the streets because they were hurt by insults against the Prophet.
“Instead of working on the cause and arresting the perpetrators, the police have resorted to killing, arresting and bulldozing the homes of poor Muslims,” Ilyas said, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue.
However, the BJP leader justified the detentions, as party spokesman Alok Watts told Al Jazeera that protesters were resorting to stoning.
“Protesting is everyone’s right, but you can’t throw stones,” he said, urging Muslims to be patient and let the law take over.
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