UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for the full respect of all religions and for ensuring that different communities can live in harmony and peace globally, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric  said amidst communal tensions in Rajasthan after the killing of a tailor in Udaipur.

Dujarric said this in response to a question on whether the UN chief has a comment on the “resurgence” of religious tensions in India following the killing of Kanhaiya Lal.

Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, with a cleaver,  hacked Lal to death in Udaipur city and posted videos online that said they are avenging an insult to Islam. This triggered stray cases of violence in the state. Under these circumstances, parts of Rajastahn were put under curfew. 

“We very much hope… we call for the full respect of all religions and for ensuring, throughout the world, that different communities can live in harmony and in peace,” Dujarric said at the daily press briefing on Wednesday, June 29.

In response to another question on the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair, he said: “We believe in a fundamental right of expression. We believe in the fundamental right of journalists to express themselves and we also believe in the fundamental need for people to respect other communities and other religions. And we believe those two sentiments are very much compatible”. Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on Monday over an “objectionable tweet” he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity. — PTI