Prophet Remark and Hate Messages: FIRs filed against Nupur Sharma, Naveen Jindal, others

Media reports said that Nupur Sharma, Naveen Jindal and journalist Saba Naqvi have been booked by the Delhi Police for hate messages. The FIRs were filed by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) unit of the Special Cell of Delhi Police

Nupur Sharma was suspended after her derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad on a TV show, setting off a huge international row and diplomatic crisis for India with the Islamic nations.

According to India Today, while the first FIR named  Nupur Sharma, the second named Naveen Jindal, Shadab Chauhan, Saba Naqvi, Maulana Mufti Nadeem, Abdur Rehman, Gulzar Ansari, and Anil Kumar Meena.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) KPS Malhotra said: "This FIR against multiple individuals cut across religions and will investigate the roles of various social media entities in promoting false and wrong information with an intention to create unrest on the cyber space and have ramifications on the physical space, thereby compromising with the social fabric of the country."

The police FIRs followed two weeks after the row following a heated TV debate and tweets setting off a chain of events.

The BJP last Sunday suspended Nupur Sharma and sacked its Delhi media unit head Naveen Jindal days after their remarks on the Prophet went viral on social media, causing outrage.

The BJP had stated that 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," the party had said in a statement.

"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.

While Jindal later tweeted that he had questioned some comments made against Hindu gods and that it did not mean he was against any religion, Nupur Sharma tweeted that her reactions were in response to "insults" made against Lord Shiva and that they were not to hurt any religious sentiments.