Nupur Sharma comment on muhammad

2022 - 6 - 6

Saudi Joins Arab Fury Over Prophet Remarks, Welcomes BJP ... (NDTV)

Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia have condemned remarks on Prophet Muhammed made by two BJP leaders who have since been suspended.

BJP media chief Naveen Jindal posted a tweet about the Prophet, which he later deleted. The decision was welcomed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. India has said that the remarks were "views of fringe elements" and did not reflect the government's opinion.

Nupur Sharma: Prophet Muhammad controversy tests India-Islamic ... (BBC News)

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran have registered protests over the remark by BJP leader Nupur Sharma.

Critics say that religious polarisation has increased in India since the BJP came to power. TV channels have held provocative debates and social media has seen rampant hate over the issue. There have also been reports of some stores in Qatar and Kuwait removing Indian products from their shelves. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a regular visitor to the region since coming to power in 2014. Another bright spot is the handling of the Ukraine crisis," former Indian diplomat Jitendra Nath Misra said. Not doing so, they say, runs the risk of damaging India's ties with the Arab world and Iran. Hate speech and attacks against Muslims have risen sharply since the BJP came to power in 2014. Millions of Indians live and work in these countries and send millions of dollars in remittances back home. Senior BJP leaders and other diplomats have also condemned the controversial statement. "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion. The BJP is also against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The comments - especially Ms Sharma's - angered the country's minority Muslim community, leading to sporadic protests in some states.

Prophet Muhammad remarks embroil India in row with Gulf states (The Guardian)

'Insulting' comments by spokespeople for ruling Bharatiya Janata party met with anger in Middle East. India's prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Nearly 40% of India’s gas requirements come from Qatar and about 6.5 million Indians live in the Gulf region. The Indian ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, was summoned and given an official reprimand “expressing the disappointment of the State of Qatar and its total rejection and condemnation to the controversial remarks made by an official in the ruling party in India against Prophet Muhammad”. Following an outcry over the comments, Jindal posted a tweet about the prophet – that he has since deleted – which also caused anger.

Nupur Sharma's Prophet Muhammad slur put Gulf trade at risk (Quartz India)

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iran increasingly feel Muslims are unsafe in India.

Just a day ago, though, India’s envoys, like the one in Qatar, had alluded to Sharma and Jindal as “ fringe elements” who didn’t represent India’s views on religious freedom. Today (June 6), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which has 57 member states, also voiced its concerns about the situation. This sparked outrage among Muslims and the political opposition in India. Some even asked for police action against Sharma; her statements also fuelled violence in the city of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. A press conference scheduled for Naidu on the next day, too, was nixed. In response, the spokesperson of the Indian foreign affairs ministry called the OIC’s views “narrow-minded” and “unwarranted”, and that the comments “denigrating” the prophet were made by “ certain individuals.” All that now hangs in the balance.

Indian government in the eye of a diplomatic storm after hate ... (ABC News)

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suspended its spokeswoman, Nupur Sharma, after comments she made during a TV debate about the Prophet ...

The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy." The State of Kuwait also summoned its Indian ambassador and said it had handed the ambassador a protest note, in which Kuwait rejected and denounced the statements made by the BJP official. In a statement on its website, the BJP said the party respected all religions: "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion."

India: Diplomatic storm over BJP staff insult of Prophet Muhammad (Aljazeera.com)

In a statement, BJP said it respects all religions and 'strongly denounces' the insult of any religious personalities.

The Islamophobic discourse has reached dangerous levels in a country long known for its diversity & coexistence. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy,” the party said. Sharma is reported to have insulted the prophet and his wife Aisha in a TV debate last week. In a statement on Sunday, the BJP said it respects all religions and “strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion”. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Indian ambassador to present an official note “expressing the disappointment of the State of Qatar and its total rejection and condemnation to the controversial remarks”, the QNA state news agency reported. “These totally unacceptable remarks have not only deeply hurt the sentiments of the people of Pakistan but of billions of Muslims around the world,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Prophet Muhammad comments by India ruling party officials spark ... (The Independent)

At least five Arab nations, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan, have lodged official protests against India for the comments made by two prominent spokespeople ...

The calls for action from Gulf nations also resulted in a boycott of Indian products by several stores. “I am not very pessimistic that this is going to last for a very long time,” he said. Watchdog groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned that such attacks could escalate. “India’s relations with the Arab world in particular have been very, very strong in recent times. Sheikh al-Khalili, the grand mufti (head priest) of Oman, tweeted that such comments amounted to “war against every Muslim”. The Hindu-majority party said that it respected all religions.