Prophet Muhammad row
Govt faces massive backlash in Gulf over Prophet Muhammad remarks, Indian products pulled off from shelves in Kuwait
New Delhi/IBNS: The Indian government is facing a massive backlash from Gulf countries over comments on the Prophet Muhammad by two leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) even as one of them has now been expelled and the other suspended.
Top officials tried to manage the diplomatic fallout as nations including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE and Iran demanded an apology from the Indian government for allowing the derogatory remarks.
In Kuwait, Indian products were pulled off the shelf of a supermarket as Iran became the latest Middle Eastern country to summon the Indian ambassador over the remarks.
On Sunday, envoys in the Gulf were summoned amid widespread calls on social media to boycott Indian goods in the Gulf countries.
The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said the offensive tweets and comments did not, in any way, reflect the views of the government.
In Qatar, Ambassador Deepak Mittal said the comments "do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements".
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also condemned statements by the BJP spokesperson, expressing its denunciation and rejection of insults of the Prophet Muhammad.
It further underscored the need to respect religious symbols and not violate them, emphasising the requirement to confront hate speech and violence.
The BJP had already suspended its spokespersons, Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, over their comments on the Prophet Muhammad that also triggered massive violence in Uttar Pradesh, saying it "strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities".
"During the thousands of years of the history of India, every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions. The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion," it said in a statement on Sunday.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party is also strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy," it had said.
"India's Constitution gives the right to every citizen to practise any religion of his/her choice and to honour and respect every religion," the party had said.
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