Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday reacted to the suspension of Nupur Sharma from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over her controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad.
Taking to Twitter, Bharadwaj, the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), said his sympathies are with Sharma.
“Action was taken against Nupur Sharma on the hate that the BJP spreads day and night,” Bharadwaj further wrote on the microblogging website.
Sharma, a spokesperson of the BJP, was suspended from the saffron party over her alleged derogatory remarks against the Prophet on national television during a debate on the Gyanvapi mosque issue.
The Mumbai Police had earlier registered an FIR against Sharma based on a complaint by Irfan Shaikh, joint secretary of the Mumbai wing of Raza Academy.
Her remarks triggered violent clashes in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur on Friday where six people were injured. As many as 36 people were arrested and over 1,000 were booked in connection with the violence.
In a letter to Sharma, BJP’s Om Pathak said on Sunday, “You have expressed views contrary to the party’s position on various matters, which is in clear violation of Rule 10 (a) of the constitution of the BJP. I have been directed to convey to you that pending further inquiry, you are suspended from the party and from your responsibilities/assignments if any, with immediate effect.”
The BJP also expelled Naveen Kumar Jindal, who was heading its Delhi media unit. Jindal had made reportedly derogatory remarks against the Prophet on June 1 on Twitter that was later deleted from his handle.
On Sunday, Jindal wrote another tweet in which he said, “We respect the faith of all religions but the question was only for those mindsets that spread hatred by using indecent comments about our deities. I just asked them a question. It does not mean that we are against any religion.”
On Twitter, several users from the Gulf countries condemned the remarks made by Sharma and Jindal and demanded a boycott of products made in India.
There were also reports of supermarkets in many Gulf countries removing products made in India from their shelves.
Amid the backlash, the BJP issued a statement earlier in the day stating that it respects all religions. “The BJP is strictly against any ideology that insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such persons or philosophy,” read the statement, issued by the party’s national general secretary, Arun Singh.
