Two dead. 60 police personnel seriously injured. 110 accused of arson, stone-pelting and assault on the police arrested. And all this because a section of Muslims in Bengaluru felt that Prophet Muhammad had been insulted.
It led BJP leader Shobha Karandaje to compare the incident to Charlie Hebdo.
“Another Charlie Hebdo repeats at Bangalore, yesterday! Violent Muslim mob with weapons attacked MLA’s house, destroyed public properties and burnt police vehicles allegedly over a FB post…” she tweeted.
Another Charlie Hebdo repeats at Bangalore, yesterday!!
Violent Muslim mob with weapons attacked MLA’s house, destroyed public properties & burnt police vehicles, allegedly over a FB post!@BSYBJP Sir, every1 who incited the riots must be arrested & given exemplary punishment. pic.twitter.com/8XE0xRhRe3
— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) August 12, 2020
Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa also showed his ire by stating that “Attack on journalists, police and public are unacceptable. The government won’t tolerate such provocations and rumours. Strict action against perpetrators is certain.”
Serious violence broke out in DJ Halli area of the city after the protestors alleged that a kin of Congress MLA R. Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s kind had uploaded a derogatory post about the Prophet on his Facebook account.
The relative meanwhile has said that his Facebook account was hacked and he had no knowledge about the derogatory post on the Prophet.
Section 144 has been imposed in Bengaluru, apart from curfew in DJ Halli, KG Halli and Kavalbyrasandra area.
Charlie Hebdo, as readers would recall, was an incident of January 7, 2015 when two heavily armed terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda broke into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris and killed 12 people, injuring 11 others.
The newspaper had published a few satirical cartoons on the Prophet in September 2012.