On Friday, August 16, in a government higher secondary school in Udaipur, Rajasthan, a Muslim student of class 10 attacked and stabbed his Hindu classmate at around 10.30 AM during the lunch break. The victim was stabbed on his waist and thighs and quickly got covered in blood. He was soon admitted to the MB Hospital, where he was operated upon, and is now on ventilator support.
District Collector Arvind Poswal said that the victim is now out of danger, and on the other hand, the Muslim minor has been detained and his father has been arrested by the police, and questioning is taking place. When this news spread in the city, distressed Hindus came out onto the streets to protest, and markets were shut down. As the angry Hindus protested, they vandalized a shopping mall, turned some vehicles upside down, and torched 7-8 vehicles at two spots. After this, the police announced a curfew.
The police also lathi-charged the angry protestors and dispersed them, but the protestors continued with their demonstration till nighttime. Amidst curfew conditions, 23 fire brigades, more than 100 firemen, 1500 policemen, and police teams and officers of 15 stations have been deployed in Udaipur. In the meanwhile, DGP UR Sahu organized a meeting in Jaipur and sent private police and other officials to Udaipur.
Looking at the anger of the protestors, the Udaipur administration also shut down schools and colleges on Saturday, and the internet has been shut down too, for 24 hours since 10 PM on Friday. The district education officer, Lokesh Bharti said that both the victim and the attacker are 15-16 years old, and some quarrel was going on between them for the last 2-4 days.
This incident and the tension which has gripped Udaipur yet again, bring back the memories from 2 years ago, when a tailor in Udaipur, Kanhaiyalal, was brutally murdered by Muslim perpetrators, who entered his shop by deceit, posing as customers, in order to kill him, just because he supported Nupur Sharma.
It seems that once again, Hindus in Udaipur, along with each Hindu across the country, are being reminded of the bitter fact of India, that Hindu lives do not matter here.
