Twenty-three-year-old Salman Vohra had been married just three months. His relatives had planned a celebratory dinner on June 22 for him and his wife, Mashira, 20, who was newly pregnant. But first, Salman, a fervent fan in cricket-obsessed India, joined friends at a local tournament in the village of Chikhodra in Gujarat state.
Several of the players were Muslim, as was Salman. In this heavily Hindu province, he did nothing to hide his religion: He had a flowing beard and wore a skull cap, markers of his faith. During the tournament, the Muslim players performed well, which angered some Hindus in the audience, which eventually grew to about 5,000.
