Nupur Sharma: Prophet Muhammad row deepens India’s diplomatic woes
India’s diplomatic nightmare over controversial comments made by two senior officials of the country’s ruling party about the Prophet Muhammad is showing no signs of ending.
The UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Jordan, Libya and Bahrain have joined the growing list of countries in the Islamic world that have condemned the remarks. Earlier, Kuwait, Iran and Qatar had called Indian ambassadors to register their protest, and Saudi Arabia had issued a strongly-worded statement.
Indian diplomats have been trying to placate these countries – it shares cordial relations with most of them – but the storm is far from over.
At the center of this controversy is Nupur Sharma, who was a spokesperson of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She made the remark in a televised debate last month, and videos of her statement had gone viral. Naveen Jindal, who was media head of the party’s Delhi unit, had also posted a provocative tweet on the issue.
Critics say Ms Sharma and Mr Jindal’s comments reflect the deep religious polarization that the country has been witnessing over the past few years. Hate speech and attacks against Muslims have risen sharply since the BJP came to power in 2014.
Their comments – especially Ms Sharma’s – angered the country’s minority Muslim community, leading to sporadic protests in some states.
The two leaders have issued public apologies and the party has suspended Ms Sharma and expelled Mr Jindal.
“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 BJP does not promote such people or philosophy,” it said in a statement.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES