India rushes to quell outrage after insulting remarks on Islam

A man installs the symbol of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on a tent during an election campaign rally by the party in Prayagraj, India, February 24, 2022. REUTERS/Ritesh Shukla/File Photo

MUMBAI — India’s government sought on Monday to calm anger at home and abroad after two officials of the ruling BJP party made remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, with 38 people arrested for rioting in a northern city and a protest planned later in Mumbai.

The arrests in the city of Kanpur were part of an effort to quell sporadic religious tension that arose after two officials from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party made remarks that have generated widespread anger among Muslims in India and overseas.

Some of India’s top officials were engaged in managing the diplomatic fallout as nations including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE and Iran demanded an apology from the government for allowing the derogatory remarks.

Over the weekend, Indian diplomats stationed in the Gulf and neighbouring Islamic nations were summoned by officials in those countries to protest against the comments by BJP officials.

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement the offensive tweets and comments did not, in any way, reflect the views of the government.

The BJP suspended a spokesperson and expelled another official on Sunday for hurting religious sentiments of a minority community.

Muslims make up around 13% of India’s 1.35 billion people. Protests were planned against the anti-Muslim remarks in the financial capital Mumbai on Monday.

A senior official at the Qatar Embassy in New Delhi said Modi’s government must publicly distance itself from the comments.

“Hurting our religious sentiments can directly impact economic ties,” the official said, adding they were checking reports about boycott of Indian goods by some supermarket owners in Qatar.

India’s trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE, stood around $90 billion in 2020-21. Millions of Indians live and work in GCC countries.

Prime Minister Modi in recent years has strengthened economic ties with the energy-rich nations, the top source for country’s fuel imports.

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