In August 2022, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi was compelled to appeal for peace. The previous day, hundreds of Muslims had poured out into the streets of Hyderabad.

“Gustaq e nabi ki ek saza, sar tann se juda,” the crowd chanted. (‘There is only one punishment for audaciously insulting the Prophet, severe head from body.’) 

“I condemn the call for violence,” Asaduddin said on August 23, 2022. “Our fight should be within the ambit of the law. I am not in agreement with the language used. I want to tell protesters that they cannot take the law into their own hands.” 

The outpouring on Hyderabad’s streets was not unprompted. T Raja Singh, the Goshamahal MLA and then a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had made comments on........

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