A retailer in Kuwait took Indian items from its shelves on Monday, amid rising tensions over an ex-BJP spokesperson’s statements against Prophet Mohammed. Employees at the ‘Al-Ardiya Co-Operative Society’ store heaped Indian tea and other items onto carts in protest of ‘Islamophobic’ statements.
Meanwhile, the issue over former BJP official Nupur Sharma’s insulting statements against the Prophet erupted again, with Iran becoming the second Middle Eastern country to call India’s envoy. The statements by Sharma, who has since been suspended from the ruling party, have been criticised by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other nations in the region, as well as the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo.
Sacks of grains and racks of spices and chillies were covered with plastic sheets at a store just outside Kuwait City. ‘We have removed Indian products’, signs printed in Arabic read. ‘We, as Kuwaiti Muslim people, do not accept insulting the Prophet’, Nasser Al-Mutairi, CEO of the store said.
Nupur Sharma, former spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party, made insulting remarks about Prophet Mohammed, causing outrage among Muslims all throughout the country and the world. Sharma’s comments at a broadcast discussion last week were accused for causing violence in a number of locations, including Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and led to calls for her arrest.
Sharma was suspended by the BJP on Sunday for expressing ‘views contrary to the party’s position’, and the party stated that it ‘respects all religions’. Sharma later explained on Twitter that her remarks were in response to ‘insults’ directed against the Hindu god Shiva. ‘If my words have caused discomfort or hurt religious feelings of anyone whatsoever, I hereby unconditionally withdraw my statement’, she said.
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