On January 29, actress Kangana Ranaut expressed her anger over the murder of Kishan Bharwad, a 27-year-old man from Gujarat who was shot dead over an alleged derogatory post on Prophet Muhammad. In a Facebook post, Ranaut said his murder was planned by a mosque and maulvi over FB post. She urged the government to take strong action against the accused.
She said, “Kishan Bharwad murder was planned by a mosque and maulvi over a FB post because he thought God did not like his post. Killing in the name of God needs to stop, we are not living in some medieval age, and Govt needs to take strong action against such Killings. Kishan was hardly 27 years old and had a two months old daughter, he was asked to delete his post and apologise he did the same, yet he was brutally killed by four men, he is nothing short of a martyr. He died for everyone’s freedom, such people are the ones who are stopping this nation from becoming Afghanistan … his widow should get pension, Om Shanti”
Ranaut also shared stories on her Instagram account. In one of the stories, she shared a screenshot of scientist and author Anand Ranganathan’s post in which he had talked about the death of Kishan Bharwad. Ranaut said, “Unbelievable cruelty in the name of God!!! So God told them he was offended with Kishan’s FB post? Really!? Why worship such a God who gets offended by an FB post and does not even accept apology and regrets!! Shame!”
Ranaut continued to share stories on the matter. In a follow-up story, she called out so-called ‘humanist’ and questioned them for not condemning the murder of Kishan. She said, “No one with ‘Humanist’ in bio is condemning murder of Kishan. This proves Kishan was not human. Selective humanity of woke activists…”
After the arrest of the maulvi alleged to be involved in the murder of Kishan, she shared another story in which she question if we were still living in the medieval age. She said, “What is this? A mosque and maulvi planning the murder of a man because he thinks God is offended by his post… are we living in medieval age?”
The murder of Kishan Bharwad
On January 25, Ahmedabad youth Kishan Bharwad was shot dead by two bikers in Dhandhuka taluka. Kishan was on his way home, two bikers came and shot at him. He died on the spot. It was alleged that Kishan had shared a post on social media platform which Muslims find offensive. According to sources, the video shared by Kishan on social media had an image of Prophet Muhammad.
After the uproar, Kishan did not leave home for days. On Tuesday, he stepped out on his bike. According to an eyewitness, the two men who fired at Kishan were riding behind him, and at a turning at Modhwada, they fired their first shot. However, they missed it and then they fired again. He died on the spot, said the eyewitness.
Gujarat ATS and Gujarat Police initiated an investigation in the case. The two suspects, Shabbir and Imtiaz, were arrested by the police. Two maulvis were also arrested for instigating the attack and providing weapons for the kill. The pistol and bike used in the crime have been recovered by the police.
