Sadhvi Prachi: Kamlesh Tiwari's murderers are Islamic militants

On Wednesday, firebrand Hindu leader Sadhvi Prachi said that Western Uttar Pradesh has become a mini-Pakistan after claiming to be targeted by jihadi groups.

After the revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, she said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's next goal should be to deal with those who issue fatwas.

"Till now I used to travel across the country without any fear, but I feel apprehensive after the assassination of Kamlesh Tiwari in Meerut and Mukesh Sharma," she said to the reporters.

She also said that Tiwari lost his life just because he gave a statement in response to the statement made by a leader in Rampur.

On 18 October Tiwari was brutally killed in his house in Lucknow. The Hindu Samaj Party leader was stabbed on Wedenesday 15 times and shot in the face revealed the autopsy report. The two attackers, who entered his property under the pretext of wanting to join his party, also tried to slit his throat.

Prachi had claimed to face a threat to her life after Tiwari's assassination. She said that the assassination of Tiwari was done by Jihadis (Islamic militants). Talking to journalists in Haridwar on Sunday, she asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh governments to provide her safety.

On Wednesday Prachi was in Rampur to meet the family of Mukesh Sharma, a lawyer who was shot dead on the same day as Tiwari. Sharma, a senior member of the Meerut Bar Association, was shot dead here late on Friday by unidentified assailants. He also was a Brahmin Sabha office bearer.

Following the incident, the attackers fled and Mukesh Sharma was rushed to Anand Hospital where he was pronounced dead by the doctors.

His daughters claimed that the killing was planned because all shops in the village remain open until midnight, but all shops were shut down that day at 8 pm, one hour before Sharma was shot dead in Kamalpur village.

Prachi, on Sunday, after the two murders, said, "I have received a number of threats from the ISIS. I believe in God strongly and I haven't addressed this yet; but Kamlesh Tiwari's murder has disturbed me. Some unknown people came to my ashram some days ago and asked about me, and I think protection is needed."
 

With inputs from IANS