Police in the Indian part of Kashmir have arrested a young man for posting a video threatening to behead a former spokesman for the ruling party who had made insulting remarks to the Prophet Muhammad, officials said on Sunday.
The authorities removed the video, which was circulated on YouTube, as part of a broader effort to curb the religious unrest that has spread across the country.
Muslims took to the streets to protest against Islamophobic comments made by two members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist (Bharatiya Janata) party a week ago.
Clashes over the statements have erupted across the country, with some members of the Muslim minority seeing it as the latest example of the pressure and humiliation they are being subjected to on issues such as freedom of worship and girls’ wearing of headscarves, under the rule of the BJP.
Two teenagers were killed when protesters clashed with police in the eastern city of Ranchi last week.
Police have arrested more than 300 people over sporadic riots in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
In the eastern state of West Bengal, authorities imposed an emergency law banning public gatherings in the Howrah Industrial Estate until June 16.
Authorities arrested at least 70 people on charges of rioting and disturbing public order, and internet services were suspended for more than 48 hours after the latest sectarian violence.
The party suspended its spokeswoman, Nupur Sharma, and fired another official, Naveen Kumar Jindal, over their insulting remarks to the Prophet Muhammad, which also angered many Muslim countries, posing a major diplomatic challenge to Modi’s government.
Cases have been filed against these two former BJP officials.
BJP leaders have instructed several senior members to exercise “the utmost caution” when talking about religion on public platforms.
Countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iran, which are India’s main trading partners, have lodged protests through diplomatic channels and used social media to demand an apology from the government.
Last week, India’s foreign ministry said the tweets and comments did not reflect the views of the government.