Media reports say Indian police shot dead two protesters and arrested more than 130 others during street rallies sparked by a ruling party official's remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.
AFP reported on June 11 that there have been widespread protests in the Muslim world since last week, when a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party commented on the relationship between the prophet and his youngest wife on a TV debate show.
In India and neighboring countries, Muslims took to the streets in huge numbers after Friday prayers to condemn the remarks, with police firing on a crowd in the eastern Indian city of Ranchi.
"Police were forced to open fire to disperse protesters… resulting in the death of two," a police officer in Ranchi told AFP.
Officers said that the crowd had defied their orders not to march from a mosque to a market and had thrown broken bottles and stones when police attempted to disperse the rally with a baton charge.
Authorities reportedly cut internet connections in the city and imposed a curfew.
Police in Uttar Pradesh fired tear gas to disperse at least one rally after several demonstrations were staged across the northern Indian state.
Most protests ended peacefully but demonstrators in some cities threw stones at police and injured at least one officer, Avanish Awasthi, a senior government secretary in the state, was cited as saying by AFP.
"We will take strict action against those indulging in stone pelting and violence," Awasthi told reporters.
"Those working behind the scenes, instigating violence, will not be spared at all."
Prashant Kumar, a senior police officer in the state, told AFP that up to "136 protesting miscreants" had been arrested from six districts around Uttar Pradesh.
Cities around India reportedly saw sizable demonstrations on Friday.
Authorities also cut internet services for the weekend in several districts near the eastern megacity of Kolkata, after protesters blocked a railway line and mobbed a police station.
Al Jazeera says Nupur Sharma's remarks have embroiled India in a diplomatic storm, with the governments of nearly 20 countries calling in Indian envoys for an explanation.
The BJP reportedly suspended its spokeswoman Nupur Sharma for making insulting remarks against Islam’s prophet and expelled another leader, Naveen Jindal, for his anti-Islam tweet after a diplomatic backlash from Muslim countries.
According to Al Jazeera, the Hindu nationalist party said the offensive remarks did not reflect the government’s position and the comments were made by “fringe elements”.
Friday reportedly saw the biggest South Asian street rallies yet in response to the remarks, with police estimating more than 100,000 people mobilized across Bangladesh after midday prayers.
Another 5,000 people took to the streets in the Pakistani city of Lahore at the call of a radical religious party, demanding that their government take stronger action against India over the comments.
