On Thursday, the United States issued a statement condemning the remarks made by ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal. The US also backed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for distancing itself from Sharma’s comments on Prophet Muhammad.
“We condemn the offensive comments made by two BJP functionaries, and we were glad to see that the party publicly condemned their statements,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a daily news conference on June 16. He added that India should promote respect for human rights.
Nupur Sharma in a TV debate had made some comments as per the Hadiths on Prophet Muhammad that irked the Islamists. She argued that since people are mocking the Hindu faith repeatedly, the Hindus can also mock other religions by referring to Islamic beliefs and the life of Prophet Muhammad. Her statement was taken out of context by Alt News co-founder and alleged fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, whose tweet unleashed an army of trolls and Islamists after Sharma.
Later the BJP also distanced itself from her statement and suspended her from the party. In its suspension letter, the BJP told Sharma that she had expressed views contrary to the party’s on various matters which violate the party’s constitution. “The BJP respects all religions. It strongly denounces insults of any religion. personalities of any religion. The Bharatiya Janata Party is also strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy”, the letter read.
Reportedly, multiple FIRs have been registered against Sharma and open calls for her death have also been made. She also received threats from extremist organizations across the border. The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters from Pakistan announced a cash reward of Pakistani Rupees 5 million (Around 19.5 lakhs INR) to anyone who would behead Nupur for allegedly committing ‘blasphemy’. Further, terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda have threatened to conduct suicide attacks in India over Sharma’s remarks.
Interestingly, while several other Islamists are taking to the streets to protest against the ex-BJP spokesperson, Maulana Engineer Mohammad Ali Mirza of Pakistan has come out in support of Nupur Sharma. In one of the videos that is going viral on social media, he stated that a Muslim panelist first provoked Nupur Sharma and in response to this the suspended spokesperson of BJP commented about the Prophet.
Words of wisdom from a Maulvi in #Pakistan.
— Smita Prakash (@smitaprakash) June 17, 2022
Shukriya 🙏 Not one scholar in India spoke with such clarity. It requires guts and equanimity. #NupurSharma #TasleemRehmani pic.twitter.com/2JUQUZGuTx
He also slammed the US for grabbing the opportunity to criticize India over the Prophet Mohammed row. He said, “Arab countries are slaves of those countries who oppose Russia. When they saw India trapped in controversy, they told the US to issue official statements against India over the Prophet Mohammed row”. He stated the need to understand the atmosphere around the entire controversy. “From the style and tone of Nupur Sharma’s statement, we can see that she was retaliating. The first accused is the Muslim who mocked another person’s religion in a live TV program”, he added.
He further questioned the interference of the Arab countries in the matter. He said that the recent Nupur Sharma incident was just a 5-second distorted clip, but why didn’t Arab nations raise their voices in the past when real, major incidents of ‘blasphemy’ occurred. “Sharma has officially apologized for her statement. Her statement was not at all planned and organized. It was accidental”, he added.
To note, before the United States, more than 15 countries including Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Turkey, Maldives, Indonesia, Libya, Iraq, Malaysia, and even the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have condemned the alleged ‘blasphemous’ remarks by Sharma.
In India, the issue is still burning with Islamists coming out violently on the streets last week after the Friday prayers. Staging protests in various parts of the country, Islamists are either demanding the immediate arrest of Nupur Sharma or are demanding her death. Severe Islamist protests against Sharma have so far been seen in Indian cities of Kanpur, Prayagraj, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Solapur (Maharashtra), Ludhiana (Punjab), Belagavi (Karnataka), and also in the states of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
