The Indian envoy was summoned by the government in Qatar today amid growing anger at home and abroad over the comments on Prophet Muhammad made by several BJP leaders. The party has taken action against national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and her colleague Naveen Kumar Jindal, but that is yet to calm the frayed tempers in Arab nations, where calls for a boycott of Indian goods and movies have flooded social media with trending hashtags.
Earlier today, Ambassador Deepak Mittal had a meeting in the Foreign Office in which Qatar raised concern over the remarks of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal.
Welcoming the BJP action, the Qatar foreign office told Mr Mittal that it was "expecting a public apology and immediate condemnation of these remarks from the Government of India".
In a statement, Qatar said the ambassador was told that "allowing such Islamophobic remarks to continue without punishment, constitutes a grave danger to the protection of human rights and may lead to further prejudice and marginalization, which will create a cycle of violence and hate".
The Indian Embassy in Qatar said the Ambassador has conveyed that the "tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements".
"In line with our civilisational heritage and strong cultural traditions of unity in diversity, Government of India accords the highest respect to all religions. Strong action has already been taken against those who made the derogatory remarks," read the statement.
Qatar's "total rejection and condemnation" comes amid the visit of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu who reached here on the last leg of his three-nation tour from May 30 to June 7.
A minister from Qatar later tweeted:
Last week, in the backdrop of a series of communal incidents across the country, Ms Sharma made a comment during a TV debate purportedly insulting the Prophet that triggered outrage from Muslim groups. The anger spilled over as Mr Jindal posted a tweet about the Prophet and he later deleted it.
The BJP, which expelled Mr Jindal and suspended Nupur Sharma, issued a statement earlier today, saying it is "strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy".
"As India celebrates the 75th year of its Independence, we are committed to making India a great country where all are equal and everyone lives with dignity, where all are committed to India's unity and integrity, where all enjoy the fruits of growth and development," the statement added.
The Congress trashed the BJP statement, saying it is "nothing but a blatantly counterfeit pretence, which is evidently farce and another sham attempt at damage control".
In a statement, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the BJP has "pushed India into a dark age of religious polarisation to subserve its parochial political agenda in the short term".
"Resultantly, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians as also SC, ST and OBC's have had to face the wrath of lumpen elements backed by State Power," the statement added.
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