Interfaith advocates in India and the United States are rallying around a Muslim peace activist who has been jailed by Indian authorities after praying at a Hindu temple.

Supporters of Faisal Khan say he visited the temple in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in late October to encourage communal harmony during a period of heightened inter-religious tension. They also contend that, after a cordial exchange, the temples priest invited Khan to pray at the back of the temple complex.

Days later, after a photo of Khan and an associate praying in the temple went viral online , the same priest filed a complaint with local police accusing Khan of a slew of charges including promoting enmity between religious groups and defiling a place of worship.

Khan was arrested on Nov. 2 and remains jailed without bail in the city of Mathura.

Sunita Viswanath, a New Yorker and progressive Hindu who has been raising awareness about the arrest, describes Khan as an activist whose devotion to nonviolence and interfaith unity follows in the footsteps of Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi. Khans arrest is another example of how Hindutva an ideology that underpins Hindu nationalism has produced a version of Hinduism that I neither recognize nor accept, she told HuffPost.

As a Hindu, I cannot accept that there is any problem if someone, anyone, prays inside a temple, Viswanath said in an email, pointing to a verse from the Bhagavad Gita where the Hindu deity Lord Krishna says he accepts offerings given by those with love and devotion in their hearts.

There is no doubt in my mind that Faisal Khans arrest was due to the fact that a person who is Muslim, who devotes [his efforts] to an India which sees no difference between different communities, is not welcome in todays Hindutva India, Viswanath added.