Qatar, Iran, and Kuwait summoned India’s ambassadors on Sunday, expressing their strong outrage and disapproval of a BJP leader’s provocative statements against Prophet Mohammed. In an attempt to defuse a diplomatic spat, Indian Embassy spokespersons in Qatar and Kuwait stated the ambassadors “conveyed that the tweets do not, in any way, represent the views of the Government of India and that these are the opinions of fringe elements.”
According to the spokesman, Deepak Mittal, the Indian Ambassador to Qatar, attended a meeting in the Foreign Office when they made concerns about certain inflammatory tweets by persons in India disparaging religious personalities. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu is now in Qatar, where he met with Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister, and Interior Minister, on Sunday.
The memo was given to the Ambassador of the Republic of India by Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, the ministry stated in a statement. It praised the governing party in India for issuing a statement announcing the suspension of the party’s head and said that Qatar expects a public apology and an acute rejection of these statements from the Indian government.
The Indian Embassy’s spokeswoman stated, “Strong action has already been taken against individuals who uttered the disparaging statements.” “The Government of India offers the utmost respect to all faiths following our civilizational legacy and strong cultural traditions of unity in diversity,” the official stated.
READ MORE: West Bengal Has No Rule Of Law, “But A Ruler”: Governor Jagdeep Dhankar
The embassy spokeswoman said that entrenched interests opposed to India-Qatar relations have been instigating people with negative remarks and that the two sides should work together to combat such foolish forces who want to undermine the strength of their bilateral relationships.
Meanwhile, the Kuwait Foreign Ministry said that Indian Ambassador Sibi George was summoned on Sunday and handed over an official protest note from the Assistant Secretary of State for Asia Affairs, expressing Kuwait’s “categorical rejection and condemnation” of statements made by a ruling party official against the Prophet.
The ministry praised the governing party in India for issuing a statement announcing the leader’s suspension. The Director-General of South Asia summoned the Indian Ambassador to Iran, Dhamu Gaddam, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran on Sunday evening, where the Islamic Republic of Iran expressed strong opposition to the ruling party leader’s controversial remarks about the Prophet, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
According to the report, the Indian envoy expressed remorse and said any disrespect to the Prophet of Islam was wrong. The news comes as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian prepares to go to India for the first time since entering office last year.
After their provocative statements about the Prophet, the BJP suspended its national spokeswoman Nupur Sharma and fired its Delhi media chief Naveen Kumar Jindal in New Delhi to defuse a conflict over the matter.
In response to Muslim organizations’ objections, the party published a statement intended to assuage minorities’ fears and distancing itself from these individuals, stating that it respects all faiths and vehemently condemns the insulting of any religious figure. The provocative statements have spurred a boycott of Indian items on Twitter in the Arab world.
The Qatar Foreign Ministry noted that permitting such Islamophobic statements to go unpunished poses a serious threat to human rights protection and may lead to additional discrimination and marginalization, perpetuating a cycle of violence and hatred.
According to the note, more than two billion Muslims throughout the globe follow Prophet Mohammed’s teaching, which came as a message of peace, understanding, and tolerance, as well as a beacon of light for Muslims worldwide.
Qatar reiterated its unequivocal support for the ideals of tolerance, coexistence, and respect for all faiths and ethnicities and its unwavering efforts to contribute to the development of world peace and security, according to the statement.
