NEW DELHI (AP) – India faces major diplomatic outrage from Muslim countries after senior officials of the ruling Hindu nationalist party made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet, causing accusations of blasphemy against some Arab nations that have left New Delhi struggling to contain the damaging falls.
At least five Arab nations have filed official protests against India, and Pakistan and Afghanistan also reacted strongly on Monday to comments from two prominent Bharatiya Janata party spokesmen for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Anger has poured into social media and calls have been made in some Arab nations to boycott Indian goods.
Controversial statements follow the rise of violence targeting the Muslim minority in India by Hindu nationalists who have been encouraged by Modi’s usual silence on these attacks since he was first elected in 2014.
Over the years, Indian Muslims have often been attacked by everything from their style of food and clothing to interfaith marriages. Surveillance groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned that attacks could escalate.
Rights groups have also accused Modi’s ruling party of looking the other way and sometimes allowing hate speech against Muslims, who make up 14% of India’s 1.4 billion people. but they are still numerous enough to be the second largest Muslim population of any nation.
Modi’s party denies the allegations, but Muslims in India say the attacks on them and their faith have become relentless.
Anger has been growing since last week after the two spokesmen, Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, made speculative comments that were considered an insult to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha.
Modi’s party did not take any action against them until Sunday, when a sudden outburst of diplomatic outrage began with Qatar and Kuwait summoning its Indian ambassadors to protest. The BJP suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal and issued a rare statement saying it “strongly denounces the insult of any religious personality,” a move that was welcomed by Qatar and Kuwait.
Later, Saudi Arabia and Iran also lodged complaints with India, and the Jeddha-based Islamic Cooperation Organization, or the OIC, said the statements were made in a “context”. of intensifying hatred and abuse of Islam in India and systematic practices against Muslims. “
New Delhi has so far not commented on protests by Muslim nations, but India’s Foreign Ministry on Monday rejected OIC comments as “unjustified” and “narrow-minded”. On Sunday, the Indian embassies in Qatar and Doha issued a statement saying that the views expressed against the Prophet and Islam were not those of the Indian government but were made by “marginal elements”. Both statements said that strong action had already been taken against those who made the derogatory statements.
Criticism from Muslim countries, however, was harsh, indicating that insulting the Prophet Muhammad was a red line.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said it expected a “public apology” from the Indian government, and Kuwait warned that if the comments went unpunished, India would see “an increase in extremism and hatred.” The Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman described Modi’s party’s “obscene rudeness” towards Islam as a form of “war”. And Riyadh said the comments were “insulting” and called for “respect for beliefs and religions.”
Sharma’s statements during a TV show in India and Jindal in a tweet run the risk of damaging India’s ties with Arab nations.
India maintains strong ties with wealthy sheikhs in Qatar and Kuwait, who depend on millions of migrant workers from India and other parts of South Asia to serve their small local populations and drive the machinery of life. daily. India also relies on oil-rich Gulf Arab states to fuel its energy-thirsty economy.
The statements also angered the arch-rival and neighbor of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
On Monday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned an Indian diplomat and conveyed Islamabad’s “strong condemnation”, a day after Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the comments were “hurtful” and that “India under Modi he tramples on religious freedoms and persecutes Muslims. ” The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said the Indian government should not allow “these fanatics to insult … Islam and provoke the feelings of Muslims.”
Feelings and anti-Muslim attacks have increased in India under Modi. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said India was seeing “growing attacks on people and places of worship,” and sparked a response from New Delhi that described the comments as ” misinformed “.
More recently, religious tensions have risen after some Hindu groups went to a local court in the northern city of Varanasi to ask permission to pray in a 17th-century mosque, alleging that it was built by demolishing a temple. Critics say these tensions have been further exacerbated by Indian TV channel presenters during stupid debates.
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Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre and Jon Gambrell in Dubai and Munir Ahmad and Rahim Faiez in Islamabad contributed to this report.