Indian police demolish Muslims houses in New Dehli

Two teenagers were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in eastern India that followed derogatory remarks about the Prophet by two ruling party officials

Indian police and the administration Sunday started demolishing houses of Muslim communities in New Dehli after they started protest against the blasphemous remarks against prophet (PBUH) by two ruling party officials.

In the ongoing protest, two teenagers were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in eastern India that followed derogatory remarks about the Prophet by two ruling party officials, police.

Police opened fire to break up the violence in the city of Ranchi in Jharkhand state but it was clear that two victims were killed by the police.

A curfew was imposed and Internet services suspended to stop the unrest escalating.

In northern Uttar Pradesh state police said they had arrested 230 alleged protestors after unrest spread across several towns after Friday prayers.

Some of India’s top officials were engaged in managing the diplomatic fallout as nations including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran demanded an apology from the government for allowing the blasphemous remarks.

Over the weekend, Indian diplomats stationed in the Gulf and neighbouring Islamic nations were summoned by officials in those countries to protest against the comments by BJP officials.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in a statement, said: “These insults come in the context of the increasing intensity in hatred of and insults to Islam in India and the systematic harassment of Muslims.”

The influential 57-member body cited the latest decision to ban the hijab at educational institutions in several Indian states and the destruction of Muslim property to highlight what it said was the Indian government’s bias.

Pakistan’s Armed Forces in a tweet “strongly condemn blasphemous remarks” by Indian officials.

“The outrageous act is deeply hurtful and clearly indicates extreme level of hate against Muslims and other religions in India,” it said.

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement the offensive tweets and comments did not, in any way, reflect the views of the government.

“Strong action has already been taken against these individuals by relevant bodies…It is regrettable that OIC Secretariat has yet again chosen to make motivated, misleading and mischievous comments,” said Arindam Bagchi, a government spokesperson.

Muslims make up around 25% of India’s 1.35 billion people. Protests were planned against the anti-Muslim remarks in the financial capital Mumbai on Monday.

A senior official at the Qatar Embassy in New Delhi said Modi’s government must publicly distance itself from the comments.

“Hurting our religious sentiments can directly impact economic ties,” the official said, adding they were checking reports about boycott of Indian goods by some supermarket owners in Qatar.