Pakistan has lashed out at India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for derogatory comments against the Holy Prophet. President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have called out India for Islamophobia.
President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in their separate statements, as well as the official Foreign Office statement, urged the international community to take cognizance now and “severely reprimand India” for the hurtful comments of its ruling-party leaders.
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“I condemn in the strongest possible words hurtful comments of India’s BJP leader about our beloved Prophet (PBUH). [I have] said it repeatedly India under Modi is trampling religious freedoms and persecuting Muslims. The world should take note and severely reprimand India,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a Twitter posting on Sunday.
“Our love for the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is supreme. All Muslims can sacrifice their life for the love and respect of their Holy Prophet (PBUH),” he further added.
Our love for the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is supreme. All Muslims can sacrifice their life for the Love & Respect of their Holy Prophet (PBUH).
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 5, 2022
Meanwhile, President Alvi, in a statement to APP news agency, said that India under Modi’s hateful Hindutva philosophy was trampling the religious freedoms of all its minorities and persecuting them without any impunity.
“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,” he added.
The Pakistan armed forces also condemned the BJP officials’ “blasphemous remarks,” saying that the act “clearly indicates the extreme level of hate against Muslims and other religions in India.”
Pakistan Armed Forces strongly condemn blasphemous remarks by Indian officials.The outrageous act is deeply hurtful and clearly indicates extreme level of hate against Muslims and other religions in India.
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) June 6, 2022
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has issued a strong demarche to the Indian Charge d’ Affaires in Islamabad.
According to the Foreign Office, the Indian diplomat was summoned to convey Islamabad’s categorical rejection of the derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) made by two senior officials of India’s ruling BJP.
“He 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,” the statement read.
The MOFA also told the Indian Charge d’ Affaires that Pakistan deplores the belated and perfunctory disciplinary actions taken by the BJP government of India against the said officials and that these actions cannot assuage the pain caused to the Muslims.
The Ministry also expressed deep concern over the alarming rise in communal violence and hatred directed against Muslims in India.
“Muslims are being systematically stigmatized, marginalized and subjected to a well-orchestrated onslaught from radical Hindu mobs with full connivance and support of the security apparatus across various states in India. The growing mainstreaming of the reprehensible anti-Muslim sentiment and the increasing attempts at depriving the Muslims of their centuries-old places of worship citing frivolous historical claims are nothing but the obvious outcomes of the deep-seated Islamophobia in the Indian society”.
“Pakistan calls upon the international community, including the United Nations and OIC, especially their human rights machinery, to take cognizance of and stop the dangerously rising ‘Hindutva’ inspired Islamophobia in India, and prevail upon the Indian authorities to prevent the systematic human rights violations against minorities in the country”.
Muslim World’s reaction to BJP’s controversial statements
To clarify, a BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma made insulting comments about the Holy Prophet and his wife Ayesha in a TV debate. Another party leader, Naveen Kumar Jindal, also made disrespectful remarks about the Prophet (PBUH) on Twitter.
The remarks resulted in a wave of condemnation in India and from the Islamic world. Gulf States protested against the remarks and demanded an apology. Qatar summoned the Indian envoy and handed him an official note that expressed Qatar’s disappointment.
Qatar said it is “expecting a public apology and immediate condemnation of these remarks from the Government of India”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Summons the Indian Ambassador and Hands Him an Official Note on Qatar’s Total Rejection and Condemnation of the Remarks of an Official in the Ruling Party in India Against Prophet Mohammed#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/rp7kMnWXdu
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) June 5, 2022
Kuwait’s foreign ministry also issued a statement that the Indian ambassador had been summoned and handed over a protest note over “abusive statements” made by “an official in the ruling party”.
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Late night, Iran also announced that the Indian ambassador Gaddam Dharmendra had been summoned to the foreign ministry.
Thereafter, Saudi Arabia, the largest country in the Gulf, issued a statement condemning the remarks of the BJP members.
Following the backlash, BJP suspended Nupur Sharma from the party’s primary membership. The party also expelled the BJP’s Delhi media operation head Naveen Kumar Jindal.