Indian police shot dead two demonstrators on Friday during street protests that erupted across the country over derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad by two members of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The families of Mudasir, 14, and Sahil Ansari, 19, confirmed the deaths to Al Jazeera, alleging the police used disproportionate force against the protesters who marched in Ranchi, capital of eastern Jharkhand state, after Friday prayers demanding the arrest of two BJP officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced a backlash from Muslims at home and abroad, including from a number of Gulf countries, after two officials from his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) commented in late May and earlier this month on the prophet’s private life.
One of them, spokeswoman Nupur Sharma, has been suspended and the other official has been expelled by the party.
Meanwhile, the Hindu nationalist party said the offensive remarks did not reflect the government’s position, and the comments were made by “fringe elements”.
The families of Mudasir, 14, and Sahil Ansari, 19, confirmed the deaths to Al Jazeera, alleging the police used disproportionate force against the protesters who marched in Ranchi, capital of eastern Jharkhand state, after Friday prayers demanding the arrest of two BJP officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced a backlash from Muslims at home and abroad, including from a number of Gulf countries, after two officials from his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) commented in late May and earlier this month on the prophet’s private life.
One of them, spokeswoman Nupur Sharma, has been suspended and the other official has been expelled by the party.
Meanwhile, the Hindu nationalist party said the offensive remarks did not reflect the government’s position, and the comments were made by “fringe elements”.
