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NEW DELHI – After a spokeswoman for the ruling party in India made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad during a recent televised debate, the rioters took to the streets in the northern city of Kanpur, throwing stones and clashing with police.
It was just the beginning of a controversy that would have global repercussions.
Indian products were soon taken off the shelves in the Persian Gulf after a high-ranking Muslim cleric called for boycotts. The hashtags expressing anger against Prime Minister Narendra Modi began to be trending on Twitter in Arabic. Three Muslim-majority countries – Qatar, Kuwait and Iran – convened their Indian ambassadors to convey their displeasure. The governments of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Afghanistan on Monday condemned the spokeswoman, Nupur Sharma, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Inflammatory comments from right-wing activists and political leaders in India are often headlines and outrage on social media. But they rarely get the kind of attention Sharma drew last week, which sent her political party, and Indian diplomats, to fight to contain an international public relations crisis.
In a rare move, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, suspended Sharma on Sunday and ousted another party spokesman, Naveen Jindal, who had echoed Sharma’s views and suggested on Twitter that the Prophet Muhammad was he married his wives when they were underage girls. In separate statements, party leaders said they “vigorously denounced” insults against any religion or religious figure.
The controversy highlights one of the challenges for Indian foreign policy at a time when Modi is seeking a more important role on the world stage: although his government has forged strong diplomatic ties with many Muslim nations, including both ‘Saudi Arabia like Iran, your party has arrived. under growing criticism for its treatment of India’s Muslim minority. Rights groups accuse him of fueling Hindu nationalist sentiment and turning a blind eye to religious violence.
“India under Modi has been very adept at dealing with the Muslim world, but that was almost inevitable,” said Sumit Ganguly, a political science professor at Indiana University. “There is a lynching at home and Modi is silent. Now, he feels compelled to act because he realizes that the damage abroad can be significant. When it comes to foreign policy, there is a lot at stake. “
The Indian government has tried to downplay a number of local religious controversies in recent months, such as banning handkerchiefs for students, razing Muslim neighborhoods after communal clashes and efforts by Hindu nationalists to recover high profile mosques.
Senior party officials launched a “Know the BJP” campaign last month aimed at foreign diplomats in New Delhi. In a series of meetings, diplomats were told that the party’s agenda was based on economics, not religious issues. The party adopted an inclusive slogan of “unity of all, development of all,” party officials said.
Leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist organization closely affiliated with the BJP, have also spoken of the need to lower temperatures. Several senior members of the organization have urged members and affiliates to crack down on hate speech, including calls to kill Muslims, and to stop excavations at mosques, which are believed to be paving the way for demolition.
But those efforts have been overshadowed by controversy over Sharma’s statements, which erupted just as India’s vice president landed in Qatar on Saturday for a three-day trip. M. Venkaiah Naidu met with senior Qatari officials, but suspended a pre-scheduled press conference. Meanwhile, Doha Indian Ambassador Deepak Mittal has ousted the government from the BJP spokesperson.
“These are the views of the marginal elements,” his embassy said in a statement. “In line with our civilizing heritage and strong cultural traditions of unity in diversity, [the] The government of India gives the utmost respect to all religions. “
India was founded with secular principles in 1947 and has about 200 million Muslim citizens, more than any other country except Indonesia and Pakistan. But in recent years, many members of the country’s rising political right, including BJP leaders, have argued that India should first and foremost be a homeland for Hindus.
That rising tide of Hindu nationalism, which has helped boost the BJP’s fortunes in several recent elections, seemed to turn against the party on Monday after its many apologies for Sharma and her decision to punish her.
Influential voices from the Indian right argued that the BJP was yielding to the illiberal demands of Muslim countries. On social media, many grassroots supporters called for a boycott of Qatar Airways.
“Nupur had been fed on wolves, alone, neglected, humiliated and dishonored,” a column read on OpIndia, a website considered close to the BJP. “For Islamists who lamented their blood, the message was simple: the BJP does not endorse criticism of Islam … because it can offend the intolerant minority.”
Others said they felt betrayed by a party that allegedly represented Hindu interests.
“Islamists only asked the BJP to bend, but it chose to crawl,” said Anand Ranganathan, a columnist and television commentator, as he compared Sharma to Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that was attacked by terrorists in 2015. of having mocked the Prophet Muhammad. .
On Monday, half a dozen national spokesmen for the BJP (former Sharma comrades) declined to comment to The Post on the issue or were unable to contact their mobile phones.
But in the heart of northern Hinduism, Monu Bishnoi, a BJP activist in the city of Moradabad, was excited about what he considered hypocrisy. Bishnoi said Islamic countries have never defended Hindus when Muslims despise Hindu gods. And he said the BJP should remember where it gets its power from.
“The BJP is what it is today for Hindutva,” or Hinduism, said Bishnoi, a 33-year-old pastry owner. “If party workers feel that the BJP does not represent them, they will find an alternative.”
Going Gupta and Niha Masih contributed to this report