India imposed a ban on large gatherings of Muslims in one of their historic mosques, and its police killed a Muslim woman for slaughtering her son a cow, while a Hindu extremist group began training its members to use weapons amid the escalation of violence against Muslims.

Lawyer HS Jain said that an Indian court on Monday imposed a ban on large gatherings of Muslims for prayers in one of the most prominent mosques in the north of the country, after a survey team claimed to have found traces of the Hindu gods Shiva and other Hindu symbols at the site of the mosque.

The lawyer added that a court judge in Varanasi, the holiest city in Hinduism where the historic Gianvapi Mosque is located, ruled that Muslim gatherings there be limited to 20 people.

On the other hand, the court ordered a survey in the mosque after 5 women, represented by Jains, sought permission to perform partly Hindu rituals, claiming that a Hindu temple once existed on the spot.

The Gyanvapi Mosque, located in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's circle, is one of several mosques in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh that Hindu hardliners claim was built on top of destroyed Hindu temples.

Police claimed the court's decision would help maintain law and order, as Hindu hard-line groups linked to Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stepped up their demands to dig inside some mosques and allow searches at the Taj Mahal.

India's Muslims, who number about 200 million, view these moves as attempts to undermine their rights to freedom of worship and religious expression with the tacit approval of the BJP.

Keshav Prasad Moriah, Uttar Pradesh's deputy chief minister, who is a BJP member, told a local TV station that the government welcomed the court's order and "we will implement it".

In 2019, the Supreme Court allowed Hindus to build a temple on the site of the disputed 16th-century Babri Mosque, which was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, claiming it was on the site where the Hindu goddess Ram was born.

The incident caused religious riots that killed nearly two thousand people, mostly Muslims, across India.

A Muslim woman was killed after her son slaughtered a cow

In the context of attacks against Muslims, the Indian police killed a 53-year-old Muslim woman, because she was trying to free her son from the hands of the police after he slaughtered a cow, last Saturday, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

A Muslim woman shot dead by Siddharthnagar UP Police for resisting illegal and arbitrary arrest of her son, who came to attend his sister's wedding, which was fixed to happen next week.

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— Amir Sherwani (@Amir_Sherwani) May 16, 2022

According to Utrekur Rahman, the son of the victim, Roshni, about 20 policemen raided their house in Islamnagar village, Saturday night, to arrest his brother, and when his mother tried to resist the arrest of her son, the police shot her, which led to her death instantly.

Despite her murder and the protests of the villagers, the police arrested the wanted young man, Abdul Rahman, as part of an arrest campaign against suspects for slaughtering a cow.

Local media reported that Abdul Rahman arrived in the village from his place of residence in Mumbai on May 9, to join his family in the celebration of his sister's wedding, scheduled for May 22.

The family of the murdered woman has filed a complaint with the police station in Siddharthanagar district, state, against the police on charges of premeditated murder.

In the same week, and in the same city, Siddharthnagar, UP:

When the victim is a cow, and the suspect is a Muslim: Shoot the mother of the suspect.

When the victim is a muslim woman, and the perpetrator is not of choice: 20 days of delay in legal action.

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— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) May 16, 2022

Many activists on social media circulated this news, expressing their discontent with the Indian police's treatment of Muslims, as the lives of cows are given more importance than the lives of Muslims, according to them.

"When the victim is a cow, and the accused is a Muslim, they shoot the mother of the accused!" said activist Hussein Haidari.

The journalist Tanmoi from Bangladesh denounced the lack of justice in India for Muslims, and the absence of local and international movements to advocate for them, saying, "In the United States, when George Floyd was brutally murdered by policemen, we had the 'Black Lives Matter' movement. In India, the poor are being killed. , especially Muslims at the hands of the state (...) and there is no trial or punishment.”

While the Indian journalist Muhammad Thabet wondered, "In a state like Uttar Pradesh, who should fear Muslims more? Extremist Hindus or police forces like them in terror?"

Hindu group arms training

In the same context, the extremist Hindu group "Bajrang Dal" began training its members to use weapons, in a training camp in Kodagu district in the southern state of Karnataka, which sparked widespread criticism and fears amid the escalation of violence against Muslims in India.

A well known Hate Monger Raghu Sakleshpur of Bajrang dal was one of the organisers.

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— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 14, 2022

Local media sites circulated pictures of the training camp, which included training nearly 400 Hindu youth and teenagers in the use of weapons, such as guns and daggers, and reported that it was set up in an educational institution in the town of Poonampet.

Indian activists have expressed fears of the Hindu group distributing weapons to its members and fueling violence against Muslims, while the police in Kodago did not respond to demands to investigate the incident.

More pics.

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— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 14, 2022

Commenting on the event, Swedish researcher and human rights activist Ashok Sween asked, "A right-wing Hindu organization is training its members on weapons! Can Islamic, Christian or Sikh organizations do that?"

Indian activist Anupam Mitra called on the country's president, prime minister and other politicians from the ruling Hindu party to take a stance on what is going on, adding, "Is India in a state of civil war as the following images of one of the ethnic religious groups suggest? If so, please kindly explain what your government is taking. regarding this dispute.