The sordid saga of Nupur Gate. When will it die down? Will the government learn its lessons from this cataclysmic episode?
On May 26, Times Now television news network was conducting a televised debate on the Gyanvapi mosque issue.
During the debate, BJP national spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, made some derogatory comments about Prophet Mohammad in reaction to some incendiary statements regarding Lord Shiva made in the same debate by a Muslim cleric who was participating in the debate.
A few days later Delhi BJP spokesperson, Naveen Kumar Jindal, put out tweets which echoed and endorsed the condescending sentiment expressed by Nupur Sharma regarding the Prophet.
Soon thereafter, social media was abuzz with outrage and erupted with anger expressed by the followers of Islam who termed Nupur Sharma’s comments Islamophobic since they referred directly to the Holy Prophet of Islam.
Quite expectedly, the Arabic world was singed with outrage and discrete calls for revenge. Social media in Arab countries became a crucible for anti-India sloganeering and ultimately snowballing into a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an ardent call for boycotting of Indian goods.
This was accompanied by a strident demand for an apology and suitable action against Nupur Sharma. This in itself was not very worrying as it was on social media, which is more like a public square where people speak their minds uninhibitedly.
The first sign that this was turning into a theological issue was when the Grand Mufti of Oman tweeted about it on June 4, 2022, condemning the comments.
The Al Azhar University in Cairo, which is very influential across the Arab and the Islamic world, condemned the remarks. For millions of believers of the Prophet worldwide, this was the proverbial Rubicon the BJP should not have crossed.
This resulted in unprecedented diplomatic protests, and India faced a massive backlash from Gulf countries. A plethora of West Asian Islamic nations picked up on those derogatory comments. Even other Muslim nations like Indonesia and Maldives could not prevent themselves from getting entangled in this imbroglio.
The adverse impact this will have on India’s ties with the Gulf region in the long term is a cause of concern for many in the foreign policy and strategic establishment of the country.
Following this, three Arab countries, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran summoned India’s envoy to issue a strong protest. Saudi Arabia and Oman followed suit and condemned the comments of Nupur Sharma very strongly as well.
Since independence, India traditionally has maintained very cordial ties with all the Gulf countries.
The backlash to the comments is definitely a big setback to these meticulously cultivated relationships which are economically as well as strategically very important. Qatar took the lead in issuing a demarche, which stated that such remarks smack of Islamophobia and should be suitably penalized.
The assistant foreign minister of Qatar tweeted expressing her anguish at the vicious nature of public debate pertaining to religious beliefs in India.
Protests in Islamic world over comments in India became a diplomatic tornado for the government. The ministry of MEA seemed unprepared for what followed.
As Vice President Venkaiah Naidu flew into Doha, Qatari officials conveyed that his counterpart had to cancel the banquet in his honor due to a possible exposure to Covid. However, contrary to diplomatic etiquette, there was no one else to host the banquet. This led to certain unease in the MEA.
The next morning, Qatari foreign ministry summoned Indian ambassador Deepak Mittal and handed him a strong demarche and demanded a public apology and immediate condemnation of these remarks from the Government of India.
This is unprecedented for a government to do so publicly. Following this, Kuwait also summoned the Indian ambassador. The MEA personnel responded to the summons by stating that the Government of India respects all religions.
Soon other countries in the Islamic world began to issue summons too. At least 15 Islamic nations at the last count had issued statements condemning the statements by the spokespersons.
Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives, Pakistan and even the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have condemned the comments by Nupur Sharma. Pakistan’s response was the most vocal.
Along with the MFA demarche, a resolution was passed in both houses of parliament in Pakistan, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan made a statement. There was a call for protest by lawmakers, political parties and clerics.
There was a reaction from groups like the 57-nation OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries) and the six-nation GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), who issued strong statements against India and also complained about the Hijab ban and demolition drives against religious minorities taking place in cities of India.
Iran summoned the Indian ambassador just three days before the visit of its Foreign Minister to Delhi. The visit proceeded as scheduled, but the Iranian delegation did raise the issue of blasphemy, and a diplomatic tussle ensued, which was put to rest only after the NSA, Mr. Ajit Doval, assured the Iranian Foreign Minister of exemplary punishment to the accused.
The Gulf region matters to India because most of our energy needs are met by oil and gas imports from these countries. Almost 40% of our oil imports come from the Gulf. Qatar alone accounts for more than 40% of our LNG imports.
More than 15% of India’s imports and around 12% and India’s exports in merchandise is done with the Gulf region. We recently signed a Free Trade Agreement with the UAE.
Approximately 9 million Indians work and live in the Gulf region. They account for more than half, about 55%, of India’s remittances from abroad. India has a strategic partnership with many countries in the region like UAE and Saudi Arabia.
They have extended a helping hand in fighting terror and intelligence gathering, particularly after 2008 Mumbai attack. Iran is important for India to get access to Afghanistan and Central Asia through the Chabahar port.
This was one region where PM Modi paid special attention in order to deepen India’s relationship, and this controversy has the potential to undermine all of that.
The embassy officials in Gulf countries found a very ingenious way of soothing frayed nerves by referring to the views of the spokesperson as that of the fringe within the party, and categorically stating that they did not represent the view of the government of the day.
The BJP, the ruling party, then announced that it was suspending the spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal in an attempt to douse the flame and calm the anger against them.
Soon enough, the ruling BJP took disciplinary action against the two afore-mentioned spokespersons; Nupur Sharma was suspended from the primary membership of the party for a period of six years and Navin Jindal was expelled from the party.
The BJP thought this would end the controversy and the matter would die down. But to their utter surprise, the cacophony of outrage continued unabated.
People were enraged at the fact that the BJP government reacted and preferred to appease foreign governments rather than proactively taking measures to assuage the hurt feelings of its own citizens.
As the days passed, that anger grew along with demands for arrest of Nupur Sharma for creating disharmony among religions. There have been protests erupting in different parts of the country as a reaction to those incendiary statements.
Many of those protests have resulted in rioting and violence and in many places some people have died because of police action against those rioters.
On Friday, several cities in India saw protests erupting against Nupur Sharma including Jama Masjid in Delhi, Howrah in Bengal, Ranchi in Jharkhand and in Kanpur, Saharanpur and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
Thankfully, the shutdowns in Srinagar in Kashmir were peaceful without any stone pelting or mob violence. This was accompanied by death threats to Nupur Sharma. An egregious demand to hang her publicly was also made which was endorsed by AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel.
Even Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent threatened a series of suicide bombings in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities in retaliation against the inflammatory comments made against the Prophet.
Right-wing BJP supporters reacted very differently to the whole issue. On social media, official BJP handles maintained a stoic silence.
BJP spokespersons avoided participating in any TV debates pertaining to the controversy. RSS media panelists were instructed to stay away from any TV appearance on the issue.
Notwithstanding the strict admonition from the party, many BJP workers and right-wing activists have come out openly in support of Nupur Sharma.
They were chagrined with the government for abandoning Nupur Sharma so nonchalantly and capitulating to the demands of the Muslim nations exhibiting a very pusillanimous attitude.
Even an MP of the Dutch parliament came out in support of Nupur Sharma after she was threatened by Al Qaeda.
Most of these Muslim nations themselves do not have a stellar record on human rights as they are monarchies or autocracies or theocracies and fair very poorly when it comes to treating their own religious minorities.
The protests in Uttar Pradesh became very violent with instances of stone pelting and arson resulting in damage of public property.
The state government took this very seriously, and the Uttar Pradesh police arrested more than 300 people from various districts in the state who were suspected of having participated in the Friday’s protests and violence.
Then the local administration used bulldozers to pull down the homes of arsonists who were involved in the conflagration with the police.
Local authorities in Saharanpur razed down the homes of those who were accused of stone pelting against the police. This was followed by demolition of homes of those accused of rioting in Prayagraj.
The city of Kanpur too witnessed violent clashes and stone throwing on this issue on June 3, 2022.
Keeping in tune with its zero-tolerance policy towards vandalism and arson, the Yogi Adityanath government ordered demolitions in Kanpur too.
This demolition campaign has been severely criticized by legal experts who are of the opinion that this makes a mockery of the justice system and due process.
They complain that the government has ascribed to itself the role of judge, jury and executioner and is violating the constitutionality of the process with impunity and in the process severely undermining the role of judiciary putting a question mark on the quality of democracy in the country.
The fact of the matter is there is no law in our statute books which authorize the government to bulldoze the homes of even those who are found guilty of violence. This is sheer travesty of justice.
It is apparent that the government’s action smack of a clear religious bias which is in sync with the founding principles of the BJP. The party hopes to gain political mileage by widening the communal fault lines.
For some time now, India has been on the backfoot regarding its treatment of religious minorities. Recently, American Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, spoke about rising religious intolerance in India while releasing a report on international religious freedom.
This is very rare as it is difficult to recall the last time when American government complained about religious freedom in India. The Indian establishment dismissed this as vote bank politics. However, the backlash from the Arab world has forced some action.
There is recognition that India’s domestic politics can no longer be delinked from its international image and its diplomatic ties with other countries. The diplomatic establishment needs to acknowledge the power of hurt sentiments, religious sensitivities and the speed of social media.
This has also brought to notice of the government that whatever happens inside India can also have an impact outside of India. One can only hope that there is an outreach made towards Muslims to douse these flames which endanger to engulf the whole country.
edited and proof read by nikita sharma
