Kamlesh Tiwari (16 January 1969 – 18 October 2019) was an Indian politician who founded the Hindu Samaj Party in 2017. Azam Khan, a politician from the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

, responded to Union finance minister Arun Jaitley's statements in support of decriminalization of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, by labelling members of

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

as "homosexuals". Tiwari retaliated with comments about Islam's prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, which were considered derogatory by Indian Muslims, who protested, with some people calling for beheading Tiwari. Tiwari was subsequently arrested, charged under the National Security Act, and jailed for a few months by the Uttar Pradesh Police, before his release and subsequent murder. Thirteen people have been charged by the UP police in relation to the killing: 8 have been charged for murder and conspiracy, and the other 5 for harboring the killers and concealing evidence. The main accused, Syed Asim Ali, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on 25 July 2024.

Early life and career

Tiwari was born in Para Kothba village, in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district, in the early 1970s. In 1980, his family moved to the nearby town of Mahmoodabad, when his father got a job as a priest at the local Ram-Janki temple. The family stayed at an accommodation provided within the shrine. Tiwari grew up there during the heyday of the ram temple movement in

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

. Tiwari was attracted to the Hindutva form of Hindu nationalism in the 1990s. He organized groups of young Hindutva warriors who marched from

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

to Ayodhya and participated in the demolition of the mosque at a 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. He claimed to be the president of Hindu Mahasabha, and also founded the Hindu Samaj Party in 2017. Tiwari contested the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election, from

, in 2012, and attempted to gain a Lok Sabha seat, from Faizabad, in the

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...

, but was defeated both times.

Controversy

Indian Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who belonged to

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP), supported decriminalization of homosexuality. In response to that statement, on 2 December 2015 Azam Khan, a member of the

, reportedly labelled members of

(RSS) – the ideological arm of

(BJP) – as homosexuals, because they don't marry. The next day, Kamlesh Tiwari responded to Azam Khan's statement by making derogatory comments about Mohammad. About one hundred thousand Muslims protested in Muzaffarnagar, with some demanding the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for Tiwari, (the death penalty being reserved in India for the "rarest of rare" crimes), with some demanding that he be "beheaded" for "insulting" Muhammad. Rallies protesting his statement were held by several Islamic groups in other parts of India, some of them demanding the death penalty. On 3 December 2015, Tiwari was arrested in Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh police,Who was Kamlesh Tiwari, the Hindu Samaj Party leader killed in broad daylight in Lucknow?
India Today (18 October 2019) for his remarks on 2 December, and charged under the National Security Act by the

-led

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

state government.Kamlesh Tiwari may contest U.P. bypolls
Mohammad Ali, The Hindu (20 September 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." He was jailed for several months for his comment, having been 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). The protests demanding capital punishment for Tiwari triggered counter-protests by Hindu groups who accused Muslim groups of demanding enforcement of

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

and laws against blasphemy in India. His detention under National Security Act was revoked by the Allahabad High Court on 30 September 2016.

Murder

On 18 October 2019, Tiwari was murdered by Farid-ud-din Shaikh and Ashfak Shaikh, in his office-cum-residence in Lucknow. The assailants came dressed in saffron

kurta A ''kurta'' is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia, (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women." Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South ...

s to give him a box of sweets marked with the address of a sweet shop in

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

city in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. 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 had a revolver and knife inside the sweets box. During the attack, one assailant slit Tiwari's throat while another fired at him. He was declared dead during treatment at a hospital's trauma centre. According to the post-mortem report, he was stabbed 15 times and shot once.

Investigation

Two

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

suspects previously detained by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat, had indicated that they wanted to kill Kamlesh Tiwari in 2017. The Al-Hind Brigade, a lesser known group, claimed responsibility for the death of Tiwari. By 19 October 2019, six accused of being 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. The police used CCTV footage from the sweet shop in Surat. According to the police, the pistol used in the murder was bought in Surat and the murder was planned in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. They also confirmed that Tiwari's comment on Muhammad was the motive for his murder.

Court proceedings

On 9 April 2024, the Allahabad High Court denied bail to the accused in the case, this decision was overturned by the on 25 July 2024 when the main accused, Syed Asim Ali, was granted bail by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from the two judge bench of A. S. Oka and Augustine George Masih.

References