BJP takes action against rabble-rousers, says it 'respects all religions'

Amid reports of Indians being laid off in the West Asian countries and superstores taking Indian products off their shelves in protest, BJP on Sunday suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled Delhi unit's media head Naveen Kumar Jindal from the party over their alleged remarks against Prophet Mohammad.

Sharma was suspended from the party for her alleged remarks against Prophet Mohammad during a news channel debate last week. It had resulted in a few FIRs against her by Muslims who were offended by her remarks. Jindal tweeted on similar lines, leading to strong reactions from people in the Gulf countries as well as across the country on social media.

In a statement, BJP underlined that the party "respects all religions and does not support remarks against any religion or religious leader". This was followed by the BJP Central Disciplinary Committee issuing an order suspending Sharma "from the party and from your responsibilities/assignments if any with immediate effect" while initiating an inquiry.


"You have expressed views contrary to the party's position on various matters, which is in clear violation of Rule 10(a) of Constitution of BJP," the suspension order said.

Delhi BJP chief Aadesh Gupta issued the order expelling Jindal. In the expulsion letter, Gupta said: "You have expressed on social media views that can incite communal feelings. This is against the basic ideology of the BJP. You have worked against the party's beliefs and policies. Your primary membership of the party is being revoked with immediate effect and you are being expelled from the party."

The disciplinary action was preceded by a statement by BJP general secretary Arun Singh. "During the thousands of years of the history of India every religion has blossomed and flourished. BJP respects all religions. BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion. BJP is also strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. BJP does not promote such people or philosophy," the party said.

The statement emphasised that the Indian Constitution gives right to every citizen to practice any religion of his/her choice and to honour and respect every religion. "As India celebrates 75th year of its Independence, we are committed to making India a great country where all are equal and everyone lives with dignity, where all are committed to India's unity and integrity, where all enjoy the fruits of growth and development," BJP said.

The decision to suspend the two leaders were triggered by incidents that threaten to spoil India's growing ties with the strategic partners in the Gulf and at a time when the Indian Vice President is visiting Qatar.

Many Arab citizens started denouncing Indian products. Reports of Indians, who form a large percentage of the working population in the Gulf countries, being laid off by their Arab bosses started surfacing on the internet.

'Boycott India' tweets started trending on the internet. There were also reports of many superstores in the Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain removing Indian products from their shelves. There were also reports of pictures of PM Modi being defaced.

The region is emerging as a security partner for India. There are apprehensions that Pakistan would have exploited the situation to push anti-India sentiments.

Spokesperson of Indian embassy in Qatar said ambassador Deepak Mittal had a meeting in the Foreign Office in which concerns were raised about some offensive tweets by individuals in India denigrating the religious personality. Ambassador conveyed that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. "Strong action has already been taken against those who made the derogatory remarks," according to a statement by the Indian Embassy in Qatar. Kuwait too summoned Indian envoy and handed over a note of protest. It welcomed decision to suspend and expel BJP leaders. Iranian Foreign Ministry also summoned Indian envoy over the remarks ahead of foreign minister's visit to New Delhi from Tuesday.

Organisation of Islamic Conference during its ongoing meeting also expressed concern over the statements. "The General Secretariat... expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the recent offenses issued by an official in the ruling party in India towards the Prophet... may God's prayers and peace be upon him," OIC tweeted.

Sharma and Jindal tendered conditional apologies on twitter, saying they did not intend to hurt religious sentiments of any person. Sharma said during news channel debates in the past few days she had been facing remarks denigrating Lord Shiva and this had upset her. The two BJP leaders have alleged that they are receiving death threats.