Derogatory remarks: Oman’s grand mufti announces boycott of Indian products
NEW DELHI: Strong protest and boycott of Indian products in across Arab world has compelled the Indian ruling party, The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to suspend the basic party membership of its spokeswoman and major propagandist, Nupur Sharma, for her blasphemous remarks against Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
In a statement released by the BJP, the ruling party of India said it had suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma on June 5 from the primary membership of the party following objectionable and communal statements by them on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Islam.
The move comes after a sustained and strong social media campaign in across gulf states calling for boycotting Indian products and calls by Muslim clerics to boycott India and its prime minister Modi who is main architect of Islamophobic and genocidal incidents in across India.
The Grand Mufti of Oman Sheikh Ahmad bin Hamad Al-Khalil has announced the boycott of Indian products after spokespersons of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made blasphemous remarks.
The Delhi unit of the BJP expelled its spokesperson Naveen Kumar from primary membership against the same offence.
The party also released a statement signed by BJP general secretary Arun Singh distancing itself from these statements, without naming either Ms. Sharma or Mr. Kumar or contextualising the statement with their utterances.
This comes after violence broke out in Kanpur and a flood of protests on social media especially from Gulf countries.
“During the thousands of years of the history of India every religion has blossomed and flourished. The BJP respects all religions. The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion. The BJP is also strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people of philosophy,” said the statement.
It then goes on to say that “India’s Constitution gives the right to every citizen to practice any religion of his/her choice and to honour and respect every religion. As India celebrates 75th year of its Independence, we are committed to making India a great country where all are equal and everyone lives with dignity, where all are committed to India’s unity and integrity, where all enjoy the fruits of growth and development.”
In the suspension letter served on Ms. Sharma, the party said that she had “expressed views contrary to the party’s position on various matters which is in clear violation of Rule 10 (a) of the Constitution of the Bharatiya Janata Party”.
According to sources in the party, the controversy over the statements was becoming bigger by the day, provoking violence in Kanpur on June 3, and with growing protests in the Gulf countries as well. This is probably one of the first instances of BJP spokespersons being suspended from the primary membership of the party, clearly demonstrating that protests came from serious quarters.
Hashtags calling for the boycott of Indian goods in Gulf countries trended on Twitter and more seriously, the Grand Mufti of Oman tweeted from his official account, denouncing the statement.
The Grand Mufti of Oman Sheikh Ahmad bin Hamad Al-Khalil has announced the boycott of Indian products after spokespersons of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made blasphemous remarks.
Two spokespersons of Indian extremist party BJP, Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, made objectionable remarks against Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during a panel discussion on an Indian news channel.
Grand Mufti of Oman cals for India’s boycott
The Grand Mufti of Oman along with Twitter handles with a large following have called for the boycott of Indian products. The Grand Mufti of Oman Sheikh Al-Khalili tweeted that the “obscene” comments of the spokesperson of India’s ruling party amounted to a “war against every Muslim”.
Several middle eastern countries including Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain have reportedly removed Indian products from their superstores.
Meanwhile in Kuwait, pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been posted on trash bins.
