Kuwait: A Kuwaiti supermarket removed Indian products from its shelves, following insulting statements made against the Prophet Muhammad by two officials of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India.
Kuwait’s Ardiya Co-operative Society store’s decision came amid demands from Gulf and Arab countries to completely boycott Indian products. The boycott was in view of derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad, by BJP spokespersons Naveen Kumar Jindal and Nupur Sharma.
“We boycotted Indian products because of offending the Messenger. We, as a Kuwaiti and Muslim people, do not accept insulting the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace,” Nasser Al-Mutairi, CEO of the store was quoted by the news agency AFP.
On June 1, Delhi BJP spokesperson Naveen Kumar Jindal in a tweet on his official account on Twitter spoke about the prophet of Islam in low light, which sparked widespread anger among the pioneers of communication in the Arab world.
On May 27, BJP national spokesperson Nupur Sharma in Mumbai during a show on a news channel on Friday made derogatory comments against Prophet Mohammed.
Following international pressure, on Sunday, the ruling party in India announced the suspension of its spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, and expelled Naveen Kumar Jindal.
On Sunday, the Gulf nations also summoned the Indian Ambassador to express their strong protest against the remark.
The #Except_the_Messenger_of_Allah_Ya_Modi continues to be topped by Twitter in many Arab and Islamic countries, with calls for a boycott of Indian goods amid widespread popular anger, while the #Boycott_Indian_Products has returned to ascend in the Arab world.
The platforms around the world are witnessing a massive campaign to boycott Indian products, through the hashtag #BoycottIndianProducts, to protest the rise of Islamophobia and hatred against Muslims in India.
Activist and human rights activist Khaled Beydoun described the online campaign to boycott Indian products as “the best way to confront the Islamophobia sponsored by the Indian state,” adding that it is necessary to move in the economic direction to confront Islamophobia in India.
