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The Delhi police have registered a case on suspended BJP’s national spokesperson Nupur Sharma for hate-mongering. The move comes after the chorus from across the gulf became louder with the group of 57 nations – Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and several Arab countries expressing their condemnation over BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Muhammad on Media. The FIR by Delhi police also names Navin Kumar Jindal for his provocative language on social media against the Prophet Muhammad. And in what appears to be a balancing act, similar charges have been slapped on AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asadudduin Owaisi.   

The backlash from the gulf countries was so concerted, with condemnation from one after the other, that the BJP had to do something to extinguish the fire. First, it removed its spokespersons. Now cases are being filed against them. It’s an apparent fall for the party that has come with a lesson — It’s better to reign in hardliners as bilateral trade matters in a globalized world.   

Let’s take a look at this. India imports 60% of the crude oil it requires from the Gulf countries. With 89 lakh Indians living in these countries, half of the foreign remittances come to India from 5 Gulf countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman. And among the gulf nations, UAE is the third-largest trading partner. The annual bilateral trade between India and UAE is around $72 billion. The Middle-east, on the other hand, imports over 85% of their foods and cereals, and significant revenue to their aviation sector comes from Indian flyers. So any bad blood between India and the Arab world will hurt both. However, Islamic countries have always proven that religion to them is much more a serious issue. Even now, in no time, the issue united the Arab world, despite their factional feuds. 

The level of tolerance these Islamic nations sport on minority rights or freedom to practice other religions is questionable. Also, it’s common knowledge that some among them brazenly support and fund Islamic fundamentalist organizations. However, they have not got themselves mired in a controversy of blaspheming deities of the other religions, at least openly. 

On the contrary, though people in India have undisputed right to practice their faith, quarrels between hardliners of religions have remained part of our society even before Independence from the British. The differences between religious groups are becoming more apparent now, as the right-wing groups are pushing their agenda with the BJP in power. They think it is legitimate, and it is about time to reverse what Mughal rule did to an erstwhile Hindu India. The views of people like Sharma and Jindal are not new among hardline right-wing groups. But by spurting them out in the media, as spokespersons of the ruling-national party, they instantly caught the attention of the Islamic nations with ripples the BJP cannot ignore. And it has come at a time when India is standing its ground on foreign policy matters without buckling in to pressure from outside.

Image Source: Reuters