BJP leader and national spokesperson Nupur Sharma has been at the receiving end of the unabashed hatred from the Islamists and ‘left-liberal-secular’ journalists for expressing her views on Islam on a TV channel on Friday.
During a debate on Times Now on the disputed Gyanvapi structure, Nupur Sharma had argued that since people are mocking the Hindu faith repeatedly, then the Hindus can also mock other religions referring to certain Islamic beliefs. In the debate, she pointed out a view that the Prophet had married a six-year-old Aisha, and he had consummated his marriage when she was nine years old.
However, Islamists, the alleged ‘fact-checkers’, self-proclaimed journalists descended on her timeline to unleash trolls, who wasted no time in issuing death and rape threats to the BJP leader for making comments that are ‘blasphemous’.
The dog-whistling against Nupur Sharma was first initiated by Islamic propagandist and alleged fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, who shared an edited version of the video to drive a hate campaign against Nupur Sharma. Zubair shared Nupur Sharma’s video with his 464,000 Twitter followers, declaring Nupur a “rabid communal hate-monger and someone who can incite riots”, essentially admitting that a Muslim mob would indulge in violence over spoken words.
While the hate campaign started with Zubair, other Islamists, masquerading as journalists, also came out of the woodwork to incite violence against Nupur Sharma. Rana Ayyub, one of the leading Islamist propagandists and hate-monger in the country, also took to Twitter to provoke her fellow religionists to attack Nupur Sharma for her comments against the Prophet.
The so-called neutral ‘liberal-secular’ journalists were not far behind. Nikhila Henry, who claims to be a journalist, attacked the BJP leader, saying that Times Now debate was really deplorable. As per Henry, it was hurtful to listen to even ten seconds of Nupur Sharma’s statements.
“Don’t know whether any other democratic country would allow this on TV,” she added, fuelling resentment among members of the Muslim community.
Shoaib Daniyal, another self-proclaimed journalist, also seemed to be offended by the comments made by the BJP spokesperson. The alleged journalist claimed that Nupur Sharma’s speech was Islamophobic and wished that she should be booked under IPC section 295A for outraging religious feelings and insulting the religious beliefs of Muslims.
Another self-proclaimed journalist Tarushi Aswani, who writes for the far-left portal ‘The Wire’, also ranted against Nupur Sharma, saying her knowledge of Islam was wholly based on WhatsApp forwards created by members of the BJP IT Cell. She also called for the BJP leader’s arrest.
Rohini Singh, a controversial troll masquerading as a journalist, attacked Nupur Sharma and wire agency ANI by calling them ‘shameless’ for tagging Delhi Police, asking them to take note of the death threats issued against her. She even defended Zubair even though he had unleashed trolls to issue threats to Nupur Sharma.
Ashok Swain, a troll and fake news peddler, also incited Muslims by claiming that Nupur Sharma abused Prophet Muhammad on national television in a country where more than 200 million Muslims live. By putting out misleading information, Swain indirectly asked a large section of Muslims in the country to take note of Sharma’s statements.
The collective incitement and dog-whistling by the influential Islamists and their allies, backed by the ‘liberal-secular’ journalists, seems to have worked as Islamic trolls have descended upon Nupur Sharma’s timeline giving her all kinds of threats, including threats to behead and rape her.
Several Islamists issued death and rape threats to Nupur Sharma, just as they had issued to deceased Kamlesh Tiwari and Kishan Bharwad.
One Instagram user handle ‘basedmuwahhid’ shared Nupur Sharma’s image and called for her beheading. He asked fellow Muslims where they would be silent even after listening to the comments made by the BJP leader.
Another Islamist, Aljabbar Sheikh, called Nupur Sharma’ Shaitan ki Auladh’, while another user Fayid demanded the Muslims to butcher ‘kafirs’ like Nupur Sharma for commenting on Prophet. “She will be butchered”, one comment read.
Another user pointed out that as a Muslim, he will not tolerate abuse of the Prophet, hence he called for the slaughtering of Nupur Sharma.
Inspired by Mohammed Zubair’s dog-whistling, Irfan called Nupur Sharma a ‘Gustakh e Rasul’ and warned that her time was done. He said Nupur Sharma would be given the treatment she deserved.
Again, another user followed Zubair to threaten Nupur, saying her crimes are punishable by death.
Strangely, the dog-whistling against Nupur Sharma by prominent Islamist influencers and journalists and the subsequent death threats issued by Islamists is not a new phenomenon. Each of them is fully aware of the threats they are hurling at Nupur Sharma and their consequences. However, for them, protecting the honour of their god is much more important than the life of a ‘non-believer’.
In the past as well, the Islamists and their enablers in the liberal-secular intelligentsia have tried inciting Muslims against ‘kafirs’ for abusing Prophet, and sometimes they have been successful at their attempts. The brutal killing of Kamlesh Tiwari and Kishan Bharwad has proved again and again that the death and rape threats targeting Nupur Sharma are by no means an empty threat.
Interestingly, the statement by Nupur Sharma on Friday’s debate show is already in the public domain. Though the veracity of the claims is contested, it is commonly believed that the Prophet Mohammed had married a six-year-old Aisha and consummated the marriage three years later.
In fact, radical Islamist Zakir Naik, who is celebrated as an expert on Islam, had also made the same claims as Nupur Sharma in one of his speeches. Besides Zakir Naik, most Sunni preachers and scholars consider the claims of the Prophet marrying Aisha when she was six-year-old as true as it is part of the hadith. There is a reference to this contentious claim in Sahih al-Bukhari, 5134; Book 67, Hadith 70.
Some preachers also defend the claim by suggesting that a female body could reach puberty at the age of nine during those times.
It is indeed true that these claims are also contested by some Muslim scholars. However, there is nothing Islamophobic about repeating what several Islamic scholars have already spoken about widely.
Scientist and scholar Anand Ranganathan also expressed solidarity with Nupur Sharma by quoting certain Hadits that make the exact claims that Nupur Sharma had mentioned on television.
"The Messenger of Allah [ﷺ] married me when I was six year’s old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine, and I used to play with dolls." – Aisha [RA], in Sunan an-Nasa'i 3378; Vol. 4, Book 26, Hadith 3380.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) May 28, 2022
As we speak and write, there are several threats being issued against Nupur Sharma from across the country. Several Islamists are baying for her blood for stating her opinion on Islam. What is scary is that these threats are not just social media intimidation tactics but serious threats issued by rabid Islamists, whose sole intention is to carry out a jihad against Kafirs.
