Understanding the Nupur Sharma’s matter
BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma is probably one amongst the unluckiest politicians who get punished for virtually simply “quoting” Hadith and Quran- the sacred text of Muslims. In the following paragraphs, you will come to know how hooliganism of Jihadists across the world succeeds in silencing sensible voices of common people on social media and forces a democratically elected government in India to kneel down before them.
The whole turbulence was stirred up when Alt news fact-checker Md Zubair- who is often accused of sympathising with Islamic fundamentalists while being critical of RSS and BJP, tweeted an unnecessary video clip of some TV debate moderated by Navika Kumar where Ex BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, Muslim scholar Tasleem Rehmani, author Ratan Sharda and others were on the panel.
What she actually said?
Nupur Sharma, after repeated venomous remarks hurled at lord Shiva by Muslim scholars, said that prophet Muhammad married 6-year-old Ayesha. This very fact is already mentioned in Islamic holy text- Hadith, Sahih al-Bukhari 5134 and dozens of Muslim clerics have said the same as Nupur did in the debate. Check out the old video of Dr Zakir Naik.
A question to protesters
All the demonstrators vehemently opposing her quotation from Islamic scripture, are probably not able to explain how her statement is wrong/false/provocative when she has not used any bad words and said exactly what dozens of Islamic clerics said on record, to the best of our knowledge. Before they burn public places and cause chaos, it’s the responsibility of all furiously protesting to elucidate how and what Nupur said is incorrect? She must be condemned if she spread rumours about any religion.
Should anyone apologize for merely quoting a book simply because there are Jihadist hooligans pushing them to do so? It’s a legitimate question. Again we all need to respect all the religions and faiths in India and those stirring up tension or issuing death threats must be dealt with an iron fist by the law.
Need of a new law?
The Jihadist culture of issuing death threats to anyone they don’t agree with should not be permitted. There is an urgent need for a new law to deal with those who stir up trouble on religious grounds. Human life should be treated with dignity, and respect and considered above religious sentiments. The UN has laid down laws on human rights for all individuals- regardless of their religious or lingual backgrounds, that include expression of opinion.
Quotations from books, religious scriptures or any other sources can simply not be barred in a democracy and those challenging the democratic values must not be spared. In order for the decree to yield dividends on the ground, the state needs to ensure the enforcement of the law is in place.
Muslim countries’ reactions
Jumping at the opportunity, The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) consisting of 57 Islamic nations, has staged protests against India. Around two dozen Muslim countries including Qatar and Pakistan have separately summoned Indian envoys over the remark of Nupur Sharma to display their anger. Muslim Hardliners meanwhile demanded a complete boycott of Indian products in middle eastern countries.
According to a local news portal, some malls and supermarkets reported having pulled Indian spices, rice etc from their shelves on June 7. All the OIC members are concerned about Muslim rights in countries like India, Palestine or Myanmar, but seldom bother about grave human rights violations in their own backyard.
Surprisingly many OIC countries have been accused of funding and supporting Islamic terror organizations and Qatar is no exception. Qatar reportedly lays its support to the militant group Hamas and provides the outfit with financial aid.
Terror threats
Terror group Al Queda in the Subcontinent (AQIS) threatened bomb blasts on June 6, in several states of India. In a letter issued by the terror group, they cowardly appealed to Indian Muslims and their children to carry out suicide attacks to kill others, for their religious feelings are offended.
“We warn every audacious and impudent foul mouth of the world, especially the Hindutva terrorists occupying India that we shall fight for the dignity of our Prophet, we shall urge others to fight and die for the honour of our Prophet, we shall kill those who affront our Prophet and we shall bind explosives with our bodies and the bodies of our children to blow away the ranks of those who dare to dishonour our Prophet,” the letter added.
Question to Muslim protesters
Does any association with these terror outfits not affect the image of Islam? Do Muslims not feel offended when these terrorists try to associate themselves with the holy religion or when they hold the holy Quran in one hand and an AK-47 in the other to butcher innocents? Sadly we don’t see ordinary Muslims protest against these terror organizations funded by several OIC members.
Many of the terror outfits are misusing the prophet’s name such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, but we don’t see a Maulvi issuing fatwa or Muslim youth telling them to stop insulting the apostle of Allah.
Ugly protests
On June 10, people pelted stones in several cities across India after Friday prayers in Mosques. Properties were reportedly damaged in the massive stone attacks, many cops sustained severe injuries. Some motorcycles and carts were burned down and efforts were made to set ablaze a police vehicle in Prayagraj of Uttar Pradesh. On June 3 (the previous Friday), a similar violent protest was taken out in Kanpur to inflict maximum damage on public and private properties of the city.
Police resorted to the Lathi charge to disperse the mob of Muslim protesters in order for peace to be restored in the affected areas by the police after hours of struggle. As many as 136 stone pelters were arrested in six different cities of Uttar Pradesh as per the latest update from the police. No casualties are reported.
“Because of our preparedness, no life has been lost. We will take strict action against those found involved in the violence,” said a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh.
Yogi Government in Action
The following day, the Yogi government examined profiles of stone pelters and ordered to bulldoze all illegal structures or houses belonging to them. The house of Javed Ahmed- the alleged mastermind of the Prayagraj riots, were razed down to the ground. According to media reports, the house of the alleged mastermind was constructed without following guidelines or getting its map passed by the authority. A notice was issued on May 10 and was asked to show the details on May 24. On the mentioned date, neither Javed nor his lawyer turned up before the desk.
Violent agitations by Muslim mobs, akin to that of Prayagraj, took place in other Indian states including Jharkhand and West Bengal. A local train was damaged at Bethuadahari railway station in Nadia district of West Bengal where employees of the railway station and passengers of the train sustained grave injuries.
Thousands of other demonstrators threw stones, damaged houses and shops and tried to block roads. Do the protesters appear to have no fear of law in this country?
The UP government has come under attack by opposition leaders for extrajudicial actions on the accused. While netizens on social media have showered praises on the government for acting promptly against the miscreants to ensure peace and harmony in the society. I leave readers to decide what’s right or wrong. For now, we all firmly concur that ordinary and law-abiding citizens deserve to feel safe in the country and no protesters have any right to cause trouble to them.
