Regjeringspartiet BJPs nasjonale talskvinne, Nupur Sharma, ble søndag avsatt etter at venstresiden i India og flere islamske land reagerte kraftig på hennes uttalelser om profeten Muhammed.

The BJP on Sunday suspended Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal as the row over their remarks against the Prophet escalated with protests from some Muslim countries.

With sharp reaction coming from countries like Kuwait, Qatar and Iran, the BJP had issued a statement asserting that it respects all religions and strongly denounces insult of any religious personality.

Sharma la seg flat:

Under attack, Sharma had said, “If my words have caused discomfort or hurt religious feelings of anyone whatsoever, I hereby unconditionally withdraw my statement. It was never my intention to hurt anyone’s religious feelings.”

Det brygget opp til en ny karikaturstrid, med sterke følelser og krav om boikott av indiske varer. Det siste kan ha vært dråpen som fikk BJP til å sparke Sharma.

Stormuftien av Oman var opprørt.

The Grand Mufti also called for a boycott of Indian products while several Twitter users urged the Government to take over all Indian investments and lay off its citizens.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the Shiva temple complex when he had last visited Oman in 2018. But the India-Oman connection runs deeper. At a time when the Gulf nations were tilted towards Pakistan on the military side, Oman regularly held joint exercises with the Indian Navy which have now blossomed to involve all the three services.

Gitt Indias voksende innflytelse og rolle som stormakt, var dette en brann Modi måtte slukke.

The strong reaction from the Grand Mufti of Oman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalili, followed by a Twitter storm in West Asia may have been crucial in the BJP suspending its spokesperson Nupur Sharma for insulting Prophet Mohammad and his wife Ayesha on a television channel.

Remarks on Prophet Mohammed: Did West Asia social media outrage force BJP to take action?

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