Posted in: 09/06/2022 – 15:40
Condemnation and vehement reactions are still continuing in many Arab and Islamic countries to the statements of the spokesperson for the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, Noupur Sharma, which was considered offensive to the Prophet Muhammad. While the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which includes 57 countries, expressed its dissatisfaction and considered that these abuses come in the context of the escalation of hatred and abuse of Islam in India. While popular voices have been raised in many Gulf countries to boycott Indian products and expel Indian workers, as regarding 8.7 million out of 13.5 million Indian expatriates live in the Gulf region alone, the majority of them in the UAE.
maelstrom in many Arab and Islamic countries After the statements made by the spokesperson of the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, Noupur Sharma, at the beginning of the week, which were considered offensive to the Prophet of Muslims, Muhammad.
This official of India’s largest party had criticized the Prophet Muhammad’s relationship with his youngest wife, Aisha. This sparked international criticism and was widely condemned by Muslims around the world.
Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, was one of the first countries to criticize the Indian official’s comments. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuku Vaizya announced that the Indian ambassador to Jakarta had been summoned last Monday and a government complaint regarding anti-Muslim rhetoric was submitted.
Strong condemnation and escalation of hatred for Islam
Senior member of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, added in a statement that the “irresponsible and blunt statements have hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world,” adding that they oppose “the anti-Islamophobia resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly last March.”
The same thing was done by the Malaysian government, as it decided to summon India’s ambassador to it and informed him of its “strong condemnation”, calling on this country (ie, India) to work together to “eradicate Islamophobia and stop provocative actions in a way that serves security and stability.”
As for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which includes 57 countries, it considered that “these abuses come in the context of the escalation of hatred and abuse of Islam in India and in the framework of systematic practices once morest Muslims and restrictions on them, especially in light of a set of decisions banning the veil in educational institutions in a number of states. And the demolitions of Muslim properties, in addition to the increase in violence once morest them.”
Arab calls to boycott Indian products and expel Indian workers
This, and the hashtag “#Except_Allah_Messenger_O_Modi” issued the attention of the pioneers of social networking sites in many Arab countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where voices were raised in these countries and other Gulf countries to boycott Indian goods and products and to expel Indian workers from the Gulf countries.
About 8.7 million out of the 13.5 million Indian expatriates live in the Gulf region alone, most of them in the UAE (3.4 million), Saudi Arabia (2.5 million) and Kuwait (regarding one million Indians), according to official Indian statistics.
In Kuwait, for example, Kuwaiti consumer associations announced a boycott of Indian products in supermarkets, calling also for the removal of Indian goods from the shelves of stores and restaurants.
In turn, the Qatari Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian ambassador to it and handed him a letter of protest and a memorandum rejecting and denouncing the statements of the official in the ruling party.
Gulf states summon Indian ambassadors
wrote Sultan bin Al Saad Al Muraikhi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs In his tweet on Twitter: “These insulting statements inciting religious hatred are an insult to Muslims of the entire world and demonstrate the clear ignorance of the pivotal role Islam has played in the development of civilizations all over the world, including India.”
The same step was also taken by Bahrain and Kuwait, which summoned the Indian ambassadors to them, while they welcomed the decision of the “Bharatiya Janata Party” to suspend its spokeswoman from work, and stressed “the need to denounce any insults once morest the Prophet Muhammad, as a provocation to Muslims’ feelings and incitement to religious hatred.”
Nupur Sharma’s duties suspended
In the face of rising anger in Arab and Islamic countries and the occurrence of confrontations and acts of violence in India, Nupur Sharma was forced to apologize, asserting that she had received death threats. For its part, her Hindu Nationalist Party suspended her duties on the pretext that she “expressed opinions contrary to the party’s position”. And he stressed in a statement that he “strongly condemns any insult directed at a religious position or religion.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons the Indian ambassador and delivers him an official note of Qatar’s complete rejection and condemnation of the statements of an official in the ruling party once morest the Holy Prophet
#Qatari_Foreign Affairs pic.twitter.com/AohizKocjF— Qatari Foreign Ministry (@MofaQatar_AR) June 5, 2022
Leaders in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have directed officials to be “extremely cautious” when talking regarding religion in public forums, Archyde.com reported, adding that “verbal instructions given by party leaders included regarding thirty From senior party officials who are authorized to participate in television political debates, and ask them not to “speak in a way that harms the religious feelings of any sect, on the one hand, and to spread the party’s principles in an advanced way.”
Arrogance and bad manners, according to Al-Azhar University
In addition, Al-Azhar Mosque, the highest religious institution in Egypt, condemned the offensive statements and considered them “arrogant and bad manners in talking regarding the Prophet Muhammad and his wife, Lady Aisha.” He stressed, in an official statement last Sunday, that such behavior “is the real terrorism itself, which can plunge the entire world into deadly crises and wars.” Al-Azhar called on the international community to respond firmly and forcefully to such abuse.
Sharma, 37, regularly participates in television debates, fervently defending Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme.
Its influence expanded with the emergence of the “Bharatiya Janata Party” in the last decade to impose itself as the dominant political force in India through its defense of Hindu identity.
Sharma was the rising star of a party that, according to observers and critics, discriminates once morest India’s 200 million Muslims, but they are a minority.
In 2008, when she was still a student, she joined the party’s youth ranks before being elected president of the student union at the prestigious New Delhi University. She led crowds of students to storm a symposium organized by a Muslim university professor who was falsely accused of carrying out a terrorist attack on Parliament but was subsequently acquitted. On the same day, during a television program she vigorously defended her actions and the behavior of her companion spat on the university professor. She confirmed that day, “I don’t want to apologize. I want to take a stand. The whole country should spit in his face. Who invited him to the university to talk regarding terrorism?”
Is the Modi government implementing a discriminatory policy towards Muslims?
Since they came to power in 2014, the Modi government and the Hindu Nationalist Party have been accused of supporting Discriminatory policy towards Muslims.
The prime minister proposed a controversial law granting Indian citizenship to refugees except for Muslims, while Indian states controlled by the Hindu Nationalist Party passed laws making it difficult for Muslims to marry someone of another faith.
Party officials have also remained silent regarding attacks targeting Muslims accused of killing cows, sacred animals in Hinduism.
India rejects foreign criticism accusing it of religious discrimination. Last week, the State Department published a statement reiterating the country’s adherence to “religious freedom and human rights.”
Hartosh Singh Pal, political editor of “Caravan” magazine, said that Sharma’s suspension did not reflect the party’s convictions, but that her comments regarding Islam “exceeded the goal” he had set.
France 24
