In the response to her derogatory remark against the founder of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) suspended the membership of one of the prominent leaders, Nupur Sharma.
Ms. Sharma during her recent interview on a TV channel passed a controversial remark against the Prophet which resulted in a strong outrage all internet worldwide specially in Muslim countries.
Following this move, the Indian government had to face strong criticism from Arab nations and the rest of the world over the remark and for promoting hateful speeches against minorities. However, just after this development, the BJP leader was suspended from the party.
BJP media chief Naveen Jindal, who posted a tweet referring to the Prophet was expelled too..
Who Is Nupur Sharma?
Nupur Sharma, a 37-year lawyer & Indian politician, was born in 1985 in a well-education family, many of whose members are civil servants. Her father’s name is Vinay Sharma, however, her mother’s name is not known yet.
Nupur Sharma Education & Political Career
Ms. Sharma as a student of Delhi University, joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sang Parivar, and won the presidentship of the student union in 2008. She pursue her Master’s degree in Law in 2011 from the London School of Economics following which she became an advocate.
She has been involved in politics from her college days. As per her LinkedIn profile, Sharma worked as an Ambassador for Teach for India from July 2009 to 2010. After her education, she became a member of the Bhartiya Janta Party and even also worked with the party’s senior faces like Arvind Pradhan, Arun Jaitley, and Amit Shah.
In 2015, the Bhartiya Janta Party gave her the ticket for contesting in the Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections against the current Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, she lost the election.
Later, BJP appointed her the official spokesperson for its Delhi Unit under Manoj Tiwari. Afterward, she was appointed as a national spokesperson of the BJP under the presidentship of J.P. Nadda.
Nupur Sharma Video on Prophet Muhammad
On May 27, 2022, Sharma participated in a debate over the Gyanvapi mosque on Times Now channel, during which she passes some derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha.
Alt new co-founder Mohammed Zubair shared a video clip of her remark on social media, however, Sharma claims that it was a heavily edited and selected video. Later, the co-founder of Alt News Pratik Sinha stated that it was unedited and also included a longer video clip.
Sharma stated that she is receiving rape and death threats from the people after that video gone viral all over the internet and if anything wrong happened to her, she will hold Zubair responsible for that.
Prime Time debates in India have become a platform to encourage hate mongers to speak ill about other religions. @TimesNow's Anchor @navikakumar is encouraging a rabid communal hatemonger & a BJP Spokesperson to speak rubbish which can incite riots.
Shame on you @vineetjaintimes pic.twitter.com/lrUlkHEJp5
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 27, 2022
Journalist Rana Ayyub’s response on this matter:
As somebody who grew up witnessing two of the worst anti-muslim pogroms in India, I think as a journalist and as a muslim, I have NEVER witnessed this level of brazen, televised hate. This lady is the national spokesperson of Narendra Modi’s BJP. THE NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON. pic.twitter.com/uhqQZdDrUd
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) May 27, 2022
BJP’s Stance & Nupur Sharma’s Apology
After seeing the nationwide outrage and physical violence over that remark, BJP suspended nupur Sharma’s membership in the BJP party and distanced itself from the matter.
BJP told, saying some Fringe elements in the country do not express India’s stance on this matter, asserting that it respects all religions and is strongly against any ideology that insults or demeans any sect or religion.
Following this move, Nupur Sharma also issued an apology on Twitter and stated that she had no intentions to hurt the religious sentiments of anybody, and her response came after the continuation of disrespect and insult of Mahadev as the Shivling found at Gyanvapi Mosque was mocking being referred to as a fountain.
— Nupur Sharma (@NupurSharmaBJP) June 5, 2022
India’s Response after its envoy was summoned to Qatar:
Our response to a media query regarding statement issued by Qatar MOFA on an offensive tweet in India: https://t.co/IIIrWPiZ9A pic.twitter.com/FjmKqt2Cey
— India in Qatar (@IndEmbDoha) June 5, 2022
