INDIA’S RULING PARTY FACES DIPLOMATIC BACKLASH OVER PROPHET MUHAMMED INSULTS

“Allowing such Islamophobic remarks to continue without punishment, constitutes a grave danger to the protection of human rights and may lead to further prejudice and marginalization, which will create a cycle of violence and hate.”

India is facing intense scrutiny and backlash over comments made by senior officials of the ruling BJP political party of India that insulted the Prophet Muhammed.

Nupur Sharma, the official spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had made derogatory comments during a TV debate last month in regards to the Prophet and his wife, Aiysha, which was later followed by a controversial tweet by BJP media head of Delhi, Naveen Jindal.

In response to their highly Islamophobic comments, during a time when the BJP has been no stranger to the growing controversy around their treatment of Muslims, many countries around the world have issued condemning remarks over India’s response to these comments – including Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Maldives, Jordan, Libya, Bahrain, Oman, and the UAE.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry stated in a press release that the Indian ambassador in the country had been told: “These remarks are totally unacceptable and have not only deeply hurt the sentiments of the people of Pakistan but of Muslims across the world.”

In addition, Iran, Kuwait, and Qatar have called on Indian ambassadors to register their protest at these Islamophobic remarks.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated:

Allowing such Islamophobic remarks to continue without punishment, constitutes a grave danger to the protection of human rights and may lead to further prejudice and marginalization, which will create a cycle of violence and hate.”

India, and its ruling Hindu-nationalist BJP party, have been scrambling to repair the damage made by their two senior officials. Ms Sharma and Mr Jindal have both issued public apologies, and the BJP has suspended Ms Sharma and expelled Mr Jindal.

However, as the number of hate crimes, attacks, and hate speech against Muslims continues to rise in India after the BJP came into power in 2014, many Muslims both in India and abroad are calling out the BJP for not doing enough.

As the backlash continues against India, many experts are pointing toward the fact that India relies heavily on economic relations with many of the GCC countries like the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar – all of whom are demanding a response from the BJP on its next move after these Islamophobic comments.

It remains to be seen whether the BJP will continue to allow the open discrimination of Muslims within India, or if this is just yet another instance of the growing instability within the country of 204 million Muslims.