Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries and Muslim institutions on Sunday condemned the remarks against Prophet Muhammad by a top official in India’s ruling party, with some demanding con rete action to end such acts of Islamophobia.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokeswoman Nupur Sharma was suspended from the party’s primary membership on Sunday for comments made in a recent television debate, while the BJP’s Delhi media operation head Naveen Kumar Jindal was also expelled, according to BJP documents and media reports.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last week were blamed for clashes in an Indian state and prompted demands for her arrest, with anger spreading overseas to Muslim countries.
Sharma is reported to have insulted the prophet and his wife Aisha in a TV debate last week. Following an outcry over the comments made during the debate, Sharma’s colleague Jindal is reported to have posted a now-deleted tweet about the prophet that also angered many.
Riyadh described the spokeperson’s comments as “insulting” and called for “respect for beliefs and religions.”
In denouncing Sharma’s remarks, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “reaffirms its permanent rejection of prejudice against the symbols of the Islamic religion and refuses to prejudice all religious figures and symbols.”
The ministry also welcomed the action taken by the BJP to suspend the spokeswoman from work.
