Islamabad :
The Spokesperson of the Foreign Office condemned in the strongest possible terms the highly provocative and insulting remarks made against the Holy Prophet by T. Raja Singh, a BJP official and a member of the state legislative assembly of the Indian state of Telangana.
Yesterday, Indian police arrested a lawmaker belonging to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after intense protests by Indian Muslims against a derogatory statement about the Prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa. He was arrested on the charge of spreading ‘incitement and hatred’ on the basis of religion.
The BJP leader had posted a video on social media in which the Indian lawmaker could be seen making a controversial statement with an apparent reference to the Prophet.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, it is said that this is the second incident in the last 3 months that a senior BJP leader has made an insulting statement against Prophet Muhammad.
Spokesperson of the Foreign Office said that the sentiments of billions of Muslims around the world, including Pakistan, have been seriously hurt by these highly insulting statements.
The statement said that the symbolic and ineffective disciplinary action taken by the BJP against the party official cannot take away the pain and anger caused by Muslims living in India and across the world.
Pakistan says it is highly condemnable that T Raja Singh was released on bail within hours of his arrest and was greeted by enthusiastic BJP supporters.
Spokesman Asim Iftikhar said that despite the global outrage and strong condemnation after a similar reprehensible incident that occurred earlier, the recent incident once again indicates the hateful attitude of the Indian government against Muslims. And further highlights the alarming situation of Islamophobia in India.
He added that the reality is that India has become an undeclared ‘Hindu Rashtra’ where Muslims are facing extreme ill-treatment, while their religious beliefs are being trampled under majority rule.
The Foreign Office said that the silence of the top leadership of BJP on the outrageous, despicable act clearly reflects their acceptance and full support for Hindu extremists.
Asim Iftikhar said that despite the reprehensible statement against the Holy Prophet, the state protection given to the former spokesperson of the BJP is a reflection of the freedom given to those who attack Islam in India.
The statement said that Pakistan demands the Indian government to take immediate and strict action against those BJP members who are habitually involved in targeting Islam and the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
The statement said that Pakistan also demands the international community to take immediate notice of the worsening situation of Islamophobia in India and hold the current BJP government accountable for its support of anti-Muslim and anti-Islam agenda.
It may be recalled that T Raja Singh’s reprehensible remarks came months after the BJP sacked its spokesperson Nupur Sharma, whose insulting remarks triggered a diplomatic boycott of India.
Protests continued in India against the Nupur Sharma incident and countless cases were filed against Nupur Sharma in various Indian states.
The Supreme Court had termed the woman who made the insulting statement as a ‘bad mouth’ and said that her bad language has set the entire country on fire.
The Supreme Court of India had said that the woman who made irresponsible statements that led to incidents like Udaipur and claimed that she had been a lawyer for 10 years, should immediately apologize to the entire country.
