Nupur Sharma remarks over Prophet Mohammad: BJP has taken action against its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and Delhi BJP media head Naveen Jindal for remarks on Prophet. Nupur Sharma has been suspended from the membership of the party till the completion of the investigation while Naveen Jindal has been expelled from the party for 6 years.
BJP's national spokesperson Nupur Sharma made objectionable remarks on Prophet Mohammad during a debate on a national TV channel, after which the party has taken action. But there are 5 important reasons for expelling both the leaders from the party.
Arab countries protest
Kuwait, Qatar and Iran called ambassadors of India to their countries and protested. Along with this, trends were also run on social media in Arab countries to boycott Indian products. Qatar said in the statement, "It looks forward to a public apology from the Indian government and an immediate condemnation of these comments." Allowing such Islamophobic remarks to continue without punishment is a serious threat to the protection of human rights. This will create a cycle of violence and hatred."
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Controversy during the visit of the Vice President
Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu is on a three-day visit to Qatar and this visit is very important regarding trade between Arab countries. But amid his visit, Qatar's opposition to BJP leaders' comments was putting India in an uncomfortable position, due to which the BJP had to take this decision.
Vice President Naidu acknowledged that nearly 40 per cent of India's gas requirements are met by Qatar and called for the need to move beyond buyer-seller relationships into a comprehensive energy partnership.
After the comments of BJP leaders, there was a demand for a boycott of Indian goods in Arab countries. There were also reports that Indian people were fired from many stores. The total value of India's trade with Gulf countries was over US$ 87 billion in 2020-2021, which included total imports of around US$ 60 billion. The total bilateral trade in 2020-2021 has seen an increase of about 27 per cent over the previous year. About 65 lakh Indians live and make they're living in Arab countries.
The controversy also comes at a time when the BJP is reaching out to many countries through a campaign called "BJP to Know". The BJP is inviting top ambassadors from several countries to its headquarters to help them understand the party and its ideology.
Sources said that such meetings have been held with ambassadors of some countries of the Gulf region and many more are expected to be held in the coming times. The damage to the party's campaign was predicted after BJP leader Nupur Sharma's remarks.
On June 3, two communities clashed violently in Kanpur and there were incidents of stone-pelting. Whereas the President, Prime Minister and Chief Minister of the country were in Kanpur on the same day.
Muslim organizations had announced a bandh on Nupur Sharma's statement and during this time violence started. The party had to take this decision so that such incidents should not happen in any other place in the country.