Kamlesh Tiwari

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Kamlesh Tiwari
Born(1969-01-16)16 January 1969
Para Kothba, Sitapur, India
Died18 October 2019(2019-10-18) (aged 50)
Lucknow
Cause of deathAssassination (Shooting and throat slashed
Political partyHindu Samaj Party
Spouse(s)Kiran Tiwari[1]
Children3 sons[2]

Kamlesh Tiwari (murdered 18 October 2019)[3] was an Indian right-wing politician who founded the Hindu Samaj Party in 2017.[4] He was shot, stabbed fifteen times, and had his throat slit on 18 October 2019 at his house in Lucknow.[5][6]

Azam Khan, a politician from the Samajwadi Party, responded to Union finance minister Arun Jaitley's statements in support of decriminalization of homosexuality, by labelling members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 'homosexuals.' Tiwari retaliated with comments about Islam's Prophet Muhammad,[7] which were considered derogatory by Indian Muslims[8][9] who protested with some calling for beheading of Tiwari.[10][11]

Tiwari was subsequently arrested, charged under the National Security Act,[12] and jailed for a few months by the Uttar Pradesh Police, before his murder.[7] Thirteen people have been charged by the police in relation to the killing; 8 for murder and conspiracy, and 5 for harboring the killers and concealing evidence.[13][5][14]

Early life and career[]

Kamlesh was born in Para Kothba village of UP's Sitapur district in the early 1970s, His family shifted to the nearby town of Mahmoodabad in 1980 after his father got a job as a priest at the local Ram-Janki temple. The family came to stay at the accommodation provided within the shrine. Kamlesh grew up there during the heyday of the ram temple movement in Ayodhya.[15]

Tiwari got attracted to Hindutva in the 1990s, in his teens he organized groups of 'Young Hindutva Warriors' who marched from Lucknow to Ayodhya and participated in the demolition of the Mosque at the disputed religious site. He later joined the Bajrang Dal, and was said to admire leaders such as Ashok Singhal, Lal Krishna Advani, Sadhvi Rithambara and Uma Bharati.[16]

He claimed himself to be the working president of Hindu Mahasabha,[10] and also founded the Hindu Samaj Party in 2017.[5] Kamlesh had contested the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election from Lucknow in 2012[17][18] and from Faizabad in 2019 Indian general election but lost.[19]

Controversy[]

Indian Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who belonged to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supported decriminalization of homosexuality.[20] In response to that statement, on December 2, 2015, Azam Khan, a politician of the Samajwadi Party, reportedly labelled members of RSS – the ideological arm of BJP – as homosexuals because they don't marry.[10][21][22] The next day, Kamlesh Tiwari retaliated to Azam Khan's statement and made derogatory comments about Mohammad.[10][11]

About one lakh (hundred thousand) Muslims protested in Muzaffarnagar with some demanding death penalty for Tiwari,[10][23][24] (Death Penalty is only reserved in India for the 'rarest of rare' crimes,)[25] with some demanding that he be 'beheaded' for 'insulting' Muhammad.[11] Tiwari was arrested in Lucknow on 3 December 2015 by Uttar Pradesh Police.[7][11] Protest rallies against his statement were held by several Islamic groups in other parts of India, some of them demanding a death penalty.[26] He spent one year in Jail.

Tiwari was promptly arrested for his remarks in early December 2015, and charged under the National Security Act by the Samajwadi Party-led state government in Uttar Pradesh.[12] He spent several months in jail for his comment, and was charged under Indian Penal Code sections 153-A (promoting enmity between groups on the grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).[27][28]

The protests demanding capital punishment for Tiwari triggered counter-protests by Hindu groups who accused Muslim groups of demanding enforcement of Islamic law of blasphemy in India.[11] His detention under National Security Act was revoked by Allahabad High Court on September 30, 2016.[29][17]

Murder[]

On 18 October 2019, Tiwari was murdered allegedly by Farid-ud-din Shaikh and Ashfak Shaikh,[30] in his office-cum-residence at Lucknow. The assailants came dressed in saffron kurtas to give him a sweets box with an address of a sweet shop in Surat city in Gujarat.[31][32][14] Tiwari's aide Saurashtrajeet Singh was sent to bring cigarettes for them and when he returned he found Tiwari lying with his throat slit. According to police officials, the assailants kept a revolver and knife inside the sweets box. During the attack, one assailant slit his throat while another fired at him.[32] He was declared dead during treatment at a hospital's trauma centre.[19]

According to the post-mortem report, he was stabbed 15 times.[6]

Investigation[]

Two ISIS suspects previously detained by Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad, had accepted that they wanted to kill Kamlesh Tiwari in 2017.[33][34] Al-Hind Brigade, a lesser known group, claimed the responsibility of death of Tiwari.[35][36] By 19 October 2019, six accused involved in the murder of Tiwari, including Khurshid Ahmed Pathan, Faizan Pathan and Maulana Mohsin Sheikh were detained by the Surat Police, Gujarat ATS and Uttar Pradesh Police.[37][32] The police used CCTV footage of a sweet mart in Surat whose address was found on the sweets box.[32]

According to the police, the pistol used in the murder was bought in Surat and the murder was planned in Dubai.[38] They also confirmed that Tiwari's comment on Muhammad was the motive for his murder.[39][40]

See also[]

Murder of Nikita Tomar

Murder of Kishan Bharvad

References[]

  1. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari's mysterious murder".
  2. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari murder: 'My father fought for Hindus whole life, want NIA to probe'". 22 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Hindu Mahasabha President & Leader Kamlesh Tiwari Shot Dead In Lucknow". NDTV.com. Retrieved Oct 20, 2019.
  4. ^ "लखनऊ में हिंदू समाज पार्टी के नेता कमलेश तिवारी की गला रेतकर हत्या". Aaj Tak (in Hindi). Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  5. ^ a b c Chakraborty, Pathikrit (18 October 2019). "Kamlesh Tiwari: Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari stabbed to death in Lucknow". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  6. ^ a b LucknowOctober 23, Kumar Abhishek; October 23, 2019UPDATED; Ist, 2019 14:37. "Kamlesh Tiwari was stabbed 15 times, shot once | Post-mortem report". India Today. Retrieved 2020-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b c Bhatia, Ishita (4 December 2015). "Kamlesh Tiwari not a member, says Hindu Mahasabha". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  8. ^ Kumar, Satish (2017-11-22). India's National Security: Annual Review 2016–17. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-24079-6.
  9. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari may contest U.P. bypolls". The Hindu. 2016-01-20. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  10. ^ a b c d e "This is what Kamlesh Tiwari said about Prophet Muhammad which infuriated Muslims". Zee News. 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  11. ^ a b c d e Who was Kamlesh Tiwari, the Hindu Samaj Party leader killed in broad daylight in Lucknow?, India Today (October 18, 2019)
  12. ^ a b Kamlesh Tiwari may contest U.P. bypolls, Mohammad Ali, The Hindu (September 20, 2016), Quote: "Mr. Tiwari, who was granted bail last week by a Lucknow court, will remain in jail until the Allahabad High Court decides on his plea against the slapping of the National Security Act (NSA) on him by the State government."
  13. ^ "Charge sheet filed against 13 in Kamlesh Tiwari murder case". Hindustan Times. 2019-12-26. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  14. ^ a b Ghanghar, Gopi Maniar; Ojha, Arvind (19 October 2019). "Kamlesh Tiwari murder: 3 men including cleric arrested from Gujarat". India Today. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari Had Intolerance for Muslims, But He Wasn't Fond of BJP and RSS Either". News18. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  16. ^ Lucknow, Venkitesh Ramakrishnan & Recently in. "Kamlesh Tiwari's mysterious murder". Frontline. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  17. ^ a b Taneja, Nidhi (2019-10-18). "Who was Kamlesh Tiwari". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  18. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari murder: UP Police arrest three persons from Surat". The Indian Express. 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  19. ^ a b Rashid, Omar (2019-10-18). "Saffron fringe group leader Kamlesh Tiwari killed in Lucknow". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  20. ^ An, Amit; Nov 29, Choudhary / TNN / Updated; 2015; Ist, 09:44. "SC must review Sec 377 ruling, allow gay relationships: Jaitley, Chidambaram | India News – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-04-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Azam Khan no stranger to controversies, has a history of squabbles". Hindustan Times. 2019-07-27. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  22. ^ Dec 1, Mrigank Tiwari | TNN | Updated; 2015; Ist, 22:10. "RSS volunteers are 'homosexuals', says Azam Khan | Bareilly News – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-10-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Dec 11, Uday Rana | TNN | Updated; 2015; Ist, 17:43. "1 lakh Muslims gather in Muzaffarnagar, demand death for Kamlesh Tiwari | Meerut News – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-10-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Team, DNA Web (2015-12-12). "Here's why 1 lakh Muslims are demanding death penalty for Kamlesh Tiwari". DNA India. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  25. ^ "India and the death penalty". 2005-08-04. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  26. ^ Team, DNA Web (2015-12-12). "Here's why 1 lakh Muslims are demanding death penalty for Kamlesh Tiwari". DNA India. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  27. ^ Preeti (2016-01-05). "All You Need To Know About Malda Violence: Explained". OneIndia.com. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  28. ^ "Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari found murdered inside house in Lucknow". The Indian Express. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  29. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari Murder: Wife Blames 'Maulanas' for Hindu Leader's Death, Cops Call It 'Purely Criminal'". News18. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  30. ^ DelhiOctober 19, Gopi Maniar Ghanghar Arvind Ojha New; October 19, 2019UPDATED; Ist, 2019 11:47. "Kamlesh Tiwari murder: 3 men including cleric arrested from Gujarat". India Today. Retrieved 2022-01-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Plan to kill Kamlesh Tiwari hatched 2 months ago: Police, India Today (October 19, 2019)
  32. ^ a b c d Shaikh, Sarfaraz (19 October 2019). "Kamlesh Tiwari murder case: Six detained in Surat". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  33. ^ Shaikh, Sarfaraz (19 October 2019). "Surat link in UP Hindu Samaj leader murder?". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  34. ^ "ISIS के निशान पर थे कमलेश तिवारी, गुजरात ATS के पास सबूत". Aaj Tak (in Hindi). Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  35. ^ "On WhatsApp, Al-Hind Brigade Claims Responsibility for Killing Hindu Leader Kamlesh Tiwari". News18. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  36. ^ "President of UP political outfit murdered at home 3 booked". The Week. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  37. ^ Mamtany, Sidhant (2019-10-19). "Gujarat ATS cracks Kamlesh Tiwari murder case, key conspirators held in Surat". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  38. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari murder: FIR against three after wife of of[sic] ex-Hindu Mahasabha leader blames Maulanas; police call it 'personal enmity'". Firstpost. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  39. ^ "Kamlesh Tiwari murder: UP Police says case solved, remarks on Prophet Muhammad behind killing". India Today. Ist. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  40. ^ "Hindu Leader Kamlesh Tiwari Killed Over Objectionable Comments in 2015, 3 Held from Gujarat: UP Police". News18. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
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