Muslims Riot After Hindu Leader Calls Mohammed Gay

In early December, a Hindu leader in India named Kamlesh Tiwari referred to Mohammed as “the world’s first homosexual.” This did not sit well with the local Muslim community, which called for the government to prosecute Tiwari for everything from “blasphemy” to making “anti-social” statements “designed to incite a riot.”

The Muslims also staged a series of protest marches, the most recent of which did become a riot last Sunday. Over a dozen policemen were injured in the resulting violence, according to India TV News, while about 30 vehicles were set ablaze.

The protesters blocked a national highway and disrupted train service for several hours, ransacking a train station in the process, according to the India TV News report. When a bus tried to push through the crowd, it turned violent, setting the bus on fire after the passengers evacuated it.

“There was a rally of about 2.5 lakh people, which took an ugly turn. About 25 vehicles, including some police vans, were set on fire. Policemen were beaten up but there was no severe injury. I have heard of one person sustaining a bullet injury but there is no official confirmation of it,” said Additional Superintendent of Police Dilip Hazra.

A lakh is an Indian unit of measure equivalent to one hundred thousand, so Hazra is estimating the size of the crowd at 250,000 people.

The mob eventually turned its rage against the nearby Kaliachak police station, drove the policemen away, and set the station on fire.

The rally was organized by a Muslim group called Anjuman Ahle Sunnatul Jamat, which insisted that it wanted a peaceful rally, and blamed the violence on outside agitators.

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Tiwari was actually arrested in Lucknow soon after making his remarks, evidently in a bid to disperse an angry mob of Muslim youths which had taken to the streets. Some are calling for much more than legal punishment for his remarks, as International Business Times reported in mid-December that he had become a target for jihadis demanding his death on social media.

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