The murder by a Hindu mob of a Muslim man rumored to have slaughtered a cow has thrown a spotlight on the hard-line, polarizing agenda of some followers of Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, undermining his promise of development for all.
On a tour of Silicon Valley last month where he was feted by U.S. tech gurus and Indian emigres, Modi won a pledge from Microsoft to provide low-cost Internet for 500,000 villages to back his vision of a globally networked "Digital India."
One such village is Bisara, 50 km (30 miles) from the capital New Delhi, where a crowd of assailants broke into Mohammed Akhlaq's home last Monday night, beat him to death and dragged his body out into the street.