Stepping up pressure for legal action against Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, opposition parties on Monday demanded th𓆏at they be arrested for their controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad and accused the BJP of denting the image of the country.
While the ruling party faced more criticism at home, the diplomatic fallout of the row continued as Saudi Ara♐bia, Bahrain, Indonesia, Jordan, UAE and Afghanistan joined several Muslim nations in condemning the alleged derogatory remarks.
The BJP had on Monday suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Kumar Jindal, its Delhi media hea🌼d, in a fire-fighting exercise, but the opposition parties like the Congress, AAP, BSP, SP and the Left dismissed it as mere "drama" and "sham" and demanded strict legal action against the two.
While Sharma is facing cases in various cities over her remarks, the Delhi Police has now registered an FIR on her com♊plaint that she is receiving death threats.
Delhi Police officials said the FIR has been registered under various IPC sections like 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) 🐭against the unidentified people.
Sharma will be summoned by the Mumbai police to record her statement in ღconnection with an FIR against her on a complaint by Muslim outfit Ra💎za Academyover her remarks, according to Mumbai police Commissioner Sanjay Panday.
The Congress hit out at the 𓃲BJP, demanding the immediate arrest of those who have de🤡famed India at the international level instead of enacting a “drama of action”.
Aski🐟ng why those responsible for putting out offensive comments had not been arrested yet, the Congress said it was unacceptable for the nation to apologise for suc🐻h mistakes.
"Divided internal🅷ly, India becomes weak externally. BJP's shameful bigotry has not only isolated us but also damaged India's standing globally," Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.
Congress chief spokesper✃son Randeep Surjewala alleged the BJP leadership is pushing the country into the dark age of communal polarisation to serve its narrow polit♋ical interests and asked.
The AIMIM also deman🎃ded the immediate arrest of the BJP functionaries and said the country's image has been dented internationally due to the "wrong policies" of the BJP.
The Aam Aadmi Party alleged that Pr🎐ime Minister Narendra Modi's patronage of "hat💮e politics" has brought disgrace to the country.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged the B🐼JP has led the country to such a situation that even "small countries are now challenging the great nation of India". He claimed that every Indian is pained by it and "the sorrow is endless".
The opposition parties targeted the prime minister after th🌌e Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) slammed India for comments by the two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries. Countries like Qatar, Iran and Kuwait had summoned Indian ambassadors and 𒊎handed over protest notes on Sunday.
The BJP's action against its two functionaries for their controversial remarks 🌞cap a series of statements from its top brass and also RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that sought to distance their organisations from the shrill and combative religious rhetoric.
The pa💝rty's action, however, has also drawn angry reactions from a section of BJP's faithful cheerleaders on social media, more so for Sharma, reflecting the dissonance between the army of supporters and its leadership, which acted to contain negative fallouts.
The Left parties alleged the BJP was "forced to act&quo🔜t; and suspend Nupur Sharma due to pressure from other countries.
"Nupur Sharma publicly thanked party leaders Amit Shah, PMO and others for support. Now under pressure from other countries, they are forced to act and suspend her. These are patrons of hate spe💝ech. Condemn Isolate Defeat them Save India," said CPI-M in a tweet.
C♐PI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury questioned how BJP leaders speaking on behalf of the party can be cal🃏led "fringe elements."
The opposition parties also said the country will not apologise for the mistakes of the BJP. "Instead of doing a drama of action against an𝓀ti-social elements in the party who have defamed India at the international level, it should immediately arrest them," the Congress said.
"With their hate-mongering propagandist politics, BJP hasn't just shamed the country but put the nation which once stood for peace and ha♌rmony on trial for the whole world t𒆙o see," it alleged.
Party leader P Chidambaram said it was not domestic criticism bཧut an international backlash that had pushed the BJP to ta꧟ke action against its functionaries.
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said the stateဣments made to pander to a local audience have damaged Indian interests in a part of the world that is crucial to the count♌ry.
The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said the BJP's action against the two 🧸functionaries was a "good thing" but not enough and demanded stringent legal action agains🃏t them.
The Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) said it will hold protests across the country on June 10 if no l💃egal action was initiated against Sharma. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), however, saꦺid there should be "a strict law" against blasphemy in India and supported a Twitter trend calling for a boycott of Qatar Airways.
The RSS affiliate questioned the Qatar government's stand on the row over two BJP leaders' remarks against Prophet Mohammad and said Hiꦚndu beliefs were insulted when Shivaling, which was claimed to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque premises in Varanasi, was called a fountain by a section of people.
(inputs from PTI)
