Udaipur killing: Terror outfits flourishing in Raj due to Gehlot govt's appeasement policy, alleges BJP; Cong says action will be taken irrespective of religion

Hitting back, the Congress asserted that its government in the state was fully aware of its raj dharma and action would be taken in accordance with the law irrespective of factors such as religion or caste.Two men with a cleaver murdered Kanhiya Lal and posted videos online, claiming that they are avenging an insult to Islam.The BJP said the killing of Kanhaiya Lal was not merely a murder but a terror attack, and held the Congress government in Rajasthan responsible for the grisly crime.

Launching a scathing attack against the Ashok Gehlot government over the murder of a tailor in Udaipur, the BJP on Wednesday alleged that terror outfits are flourishing in Rajasthan due to the Congress government's appeasement policy towards one community. Hitting back, the Congress asserted that its government in the state was fully aware of its ''raj dharma'' and action would be taken in accordance with the law irrespective of factors such as religion or caste.

Two men with a cleaver murdered Kanhiya Lal and posted videos online, claiming that they are avenging an insult to Islam.

The BJP said the killing of Kanhaiya Lal was not merely a murder but a ''terror attack'', and held the Congress government in Rajasthan responsible for the grisly crime. BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore slammed Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for terming the incident as a murder, and said Lal's killing was not an isolated incident but a marked continuation of a series of crimes linked to religious bigotry. Not a week has gone by when some ''jihadi'' incident has not happened in the state, he told a press conference and added that killers filmed his murder and made the video viral to terrorise the country. Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, with a cleaver hacked Lal to death in Udaipur city’s Dhan Mandi area and posted videos online that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, triggering stray cases of violence in the Rajasthan city, a part of which was placed under curfew. In a video clip, Akhtari said they have ''beheaded'' the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well. Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, who was suspended by the BJP for her controversial remarks against the Prophet. There were also strong reactions from some Union ministers, including Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Anurag Thakur who condemned the brutal murder. Perpetrators of ''Talibani barbarism'' are the biggest enemies of both Islam and humanity, Naqvi said. Criticising the Gehlot dispensation over the killing, Thakur said the Congress government remained a ''mute spectator'' as the party's ''internal rivalries'' took a toll on the state's law and order. Hitting back at the BJP over its charge of appeasement, the Congress asserted the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan was aware of its ''raj dharma'' and said action in the brutal killing of a tailor would be taken in accordance with the law, irrespective of factors such as religion or caste. Responding to questions over the killing, Congress' media department head Pawan Khera told a press conference here the party condemns the incident. The Gehlot government had acted swiftly in the matter, he added. ''The Ashok Gehlot government got the accused arrested within six hours... This whole matter has been fast-tracked. On the basis of what came up during the probe, Ashok Gehlot has assured all help to the NIA,'' Khera said. ''With the atmosphere being vitiated in the entire country for the last two months, Ashok Gehlot has been urging Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah that they address the country, take steps to stop the spread of hatred in the society, and appeal for maintaining peace,'' he said. Khera alleged that polarisation is evident in every nook and corner of the country, and asked why this was not the case earlier. The Congress spokesperson asserted that whoever is found guilty in the probe, the strictest action will be taken against that person.''There should be no doubt regarding that. The Ashok Gehlot government is fully aware of its raj dharma.'' Khera also attacked the BJP over its claim that terror outfits are flourishing in the Rajsthan due to its ''appeasement policy'' towards one community. ''Those talking of appeasement forget that in 2017 in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district, Shambhu Lal Regar had made a video while murdering someone and people of a particular party had climbed atop a court complex in his favour and hoisted their flag after removing the tricolour,'' he said. Those talking of appeasement forget the murder of inspector Subodh Singh and that his murderers were garlanded, Khera said. ''I would like to remind those talking of appeasement that arrests of the accused were made within six hours under the Gehlot government,'' he said. The Congress government is bound by the Constitution and every government must work within the limits of the statute, Khera said. Meanwhile, Gehlot said Rajasthan Police has booked the two men who brutally murdered Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur a day before under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), The Udaipur murder was meant to spread terror. Information has also surfaced that the killers have contacts abroad, he said. The case will be investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police will fully cooperate with the probe agency, he said. Prominent Muslim organisations have condemned the brutal killing, calling it ''un-Islamic''. Bodies like All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Delhi Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari issued statements condemning the murder and asserted that no person has the right to take the law into one's hands.