Talib Hussain, a lawyer and activist for the Muslim nomads who has led protests to demand faster action in the rape case, said Hindu-Muslim relations are at their lowest point since the deadly 1948 partition of India.
Hussain accuses Hindu nationalists, particularly the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the powerful ideological group behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government — of manipulating the Hindu protests.
Two BJP ministers in the Kashmir state government resigned after they took part in protests in support of the accused rapists.
Muslims in Jammu say they have no reason to trust the national government.
“The Hindu fundamentalists are putting people against Muslims,” said Hussain.