2022 Muhammad remarks controversy
[2][3][4] The controversy escalated on 1 June, when Naveen Kumar Jindal, the Delhi BJP media chief, made similar remarks on Twitter.
By 4 June, the remarks had been widely shared on social media, and were trending among the top 10 hashtags in all the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Turkey.
[8] The controversy emerged amidst intensifying religious tensions in India — a number of scholars increasingly identify Hindutva, the guiding ideology of the ruling BJP, as a strand of authoritarian populism bulwarked on anti-minority sentiments.
[10] Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has been accused in India of deliberately trying to marginalize the country's 200 million Muslim citizens.
[3][4] A day later, the video clip of her comments were shared by Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, a fact-checking website, on social media.
[22] Nonetheless, Sharma defended her comments and accused Zubair of "heavily [editing]" the clip; she further claimed to have been receiving rape and death threats as a result, prompting Delhi Police to provide security cover.
[31] Another FIR was registered by the AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, in Hyderabad, for using “abusive, false and hurtful” words against Muhammad and the Islam religion.
[36][37][38] Hayat Zafar Hashmi, chief of Maulana Mohammed Ali (MMA) Jauhar Fans Association called for a bandh (shutdown) of local shops in protest of comments from Sharma.
[40] On 12 June, Reuters reported that the authorities in Uttar Pradesh had punitively demolished the homes of individuals accused of rioting in the state over the remarks.
[43] The family of a victim, 15-year-old Mudassir Alam, said that he was shot in the head while standing on the street near the Hindu Shree Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple.
In a 2020 post on Facebook, Attari had been described by a local Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader as a "dedicated worker of the BJP".
On 2 July 2022, the Indian National Congress, the largest opposition party in India, alleged that Attari was a BJP member, using the social media pictures.
[65][66] The Khorasan Province of the Islamic State claimed responsibility via the Amaq News Agency,[67] asserting it had been done as "an act of revenge" for the BJP official's remarks.
In a statement outlining the meeting, Qatar stated that the Cabinet underscored Qatar's condemnation and denunciation of the remarks made by an official in India's ruling party against Muhammad, which "constitute a grave insult to Islam, a violation of its sanctities, and a provocation to the feelings of Muslims all over the world, and completely contradict the values of tolerance, coexistence and civilized behavior".
[78] The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, noting: "These insulting remarks would lead to incitement of religious hatred, and offend more than two billion Muslims around the world."
Mittal was summoned by Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which said it was "expecting a public apology and immediate condemnation of these remarks from the government of India".
[80] "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," Qatar said.
[86][87] The UAE's foreign ministry condemned what it called "the blasphemous remarks made by India's ruling BJP's spokesperson that insulted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)".
[16] Kuwait demanded a "public apology for these hostile statements, the continuation of which would constitute a deterrent measure or punishment to increase extremism and hatred and undermine the elements of moderation".
[89][90] The Indian embassy in Kuwait released a statement indicating that the Ambassador had met with the foreign office to share concerns "with regard to some offensive tweets by individuals in India".
[92] Ahmed bin Hamad al-Khalili, the grand mufti of Oman stated that the "obscene" comments of the spokesperson amounted to a "war against every Muslim".
[93] Jordan's foreign ministry condemned the remarks of Nupur Sharma by saying "Violations against Islamic and other religious figures, considering it as an act that feeds extremism and hatred".
[69] The Parliamentary Committee on Awqaf and Tribals of Iraq strongly condemned controversial remarks by BJP leaders and summoned the Indian ambassador.
[95] A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the chargé d'affaires was told that "these remarks are totally unacceptable and have not only deeply hurt the sentiments of the people of Pakistan but Muslims across the world".
"[97][98] US State Department spokesman Ned Price said "We condemn the offensive comments made by now-suspended BJP officials and we were glad to see that the party publicly condemns those comments" He also said "We regularly engage with the Indian government at senior levels on human rights concerns including freedom of religion or belief and we encourage India to promote respect for human rights.
[104][16] A member of the Maldives' parliament, Adam Shareef filed for a motion that called on the country's president to condemn the remarks about Muhammad.
[69] The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a body of 57 countries had condemned the "abuse of the Prophet Muhammad" by the officials of India's ruling party.
[108] On 6 June, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called out the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’s “motivated, misleading, and mischievous” comments on India.
Arindam Bagchi, the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said India "categorically rejects OIC Secretariat's unwarranted and narrow-minded comments.
Strong action has already been taken against these individuals by relevant bodies.”[109][110][111][112] Bagchi also responded to Pakistan's criticism by saying the world "has been witness to the systemic persecution of minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Ahmadiyyas by Pakistan”, calling on the country to "focus on the safety, security and well-being of its minority communities instead of engaging in alarmist propaganda and attempting to foment communal disharmony in India”.
