The comments of the suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma and the expelled leader Naveen Kumar Jindal about the Prophet Muhammad have sparked outrage in Islamic countries, with Qatar, Kuwait, and Iran summoning India’s envoy today. There have been calls on social media to ban Indian products.
Qatar informed India’s envoy, Deepak Mittal, that it “expects a public apology and immediate condemnation of these remarks from the Government of India.”
“Allowing such Islamophobic remarks to continue without punishment, constitutes a grave danger to protecting human rights and may lead to further prejudice and marginalization, which will create a cycle of violence and hate,” Qatar said.
Kuwait demanded a “public apology for these hostile statements, the continuation of which would constitute a deterrent measure or punishment to increase extremism and hatred and undermine the elements of moderation”.
Qatar’s condemnation comes as Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu pays a visit to Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned India’s ambassador to Tehran over an “insult to the Prophet of Islam in an Indian TV show,” according to state media.
This comes ahead of the Iranian Foreign Minister’s first-ever trip to New Delhi next week.
A spokesperson for the Indian Embassy in Qatar attempted to defuse a diplomatic crisis and said that the “Ambassador conveyed that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements.”
The spokesperson said that the Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal had a meeting in the Foreign Office. Concerns were raised with regard to some offensive tweets by individuals in India denigrating the religious personality.
During a prime-time news show on this topic conducted by Times Now Group Editor Navika Kumar, Nupur Sharma, the then BJP spokesperson lost her cool and uttered insulting statements addressed to the Prophet.
There was instant condemnation against her but the national party took no steps to correct their member’s mistake. However, the news soon spread to the Arab countries who sharply criticized the Narendra Modi government for not taking any action.
With the growing global condemnation towards Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s members – Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal for their derogatory comments against Prophet Mohammad, the party has suspended Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Kumar Jindal from its primary membership on Sunday.
On June 1, senior BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal also tweeted from his official Twitter page against the Prophet.
Many Arab citizens started denouncing Indian products. Reports of Indians, who serve a large percent of the working population in the Gulf countries, being laid off by their Arab bosses started surfacing on the internet.
‘Boycott India’ tweets started trending on the internet. In fact, the Grand Mufti of Oman along with Twitter handles with a large following have called for the boycott.
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