Gautam Gambhir lashes out at ‘secular liberals’ for their ‘silence’ on threats against Nupur Sharma

 

New Delhi: BJP MP cricketer Gautam Gambhir extended support to suspended party leader Nupur Sharma on Sunday against threats to her following her insulting remarks against Prophet Mohammad, and hit out at ‘secular liberals’ for their ‘silence’.

‘Silence of so called ‘secular liberals’ on the sickening display of hatred & death threats throughout the country against a woman who has apologised is surely deafening’, the former cricketer tweeted.

Silence of so called ‘secular liberals’ on the sickening display of hatred & death threats throughout the country against a woman who has apologised is surely DEAFENING! #LetsTolerateIntolerance

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) June 12, 2022

 

Sharma’s remarks made in a TV debate last month had drawn condemnation from many Islamic countries and sparked protests from Muslims in different parts of India. Clarifying that he was not in support of her statements, he later said: ‘Nobody has supported the statements made by Nupur Sharma. The party has taken strict disciplinary action against her and she has unequivocally apologised for the same’.

Referring to protests in several states over the remarks against the Prophet, he said- ‘The blatant display of hatred, death threats against her and her family and coordinated rioting in different parts of the country is a cause of concern. Even more astonishing is the silence of those secular liberals who blame our party for so-called intolerance. It is clear that vote bank politics is in play in certain states where rioters have created havoc with impunity. I laud the actions taken by the UP government to control the situation and to discourage such behaviour. This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in 21st Century India’.

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The BJP had suspended her in its bid to defuse the row which, however, continues to simmer, with some extremists issuing death threats to her. An AIMIM MP, Imtiaz Jaleel, recently demanded that she be hanged.