Derogatory remark on Prophet Muhammad tests India-Islamic world ties

India has landed in a tight spot following the growing anger in the Islamic world over controversial comments made by two senior officials of the country's ruling party about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The list of nations objecting to remarks against Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his wife - by former BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal - grew longer on Monday, Hours after Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan officially protested on Sunday.

On Monday, Oman, Libya, Maldives, Indonesia, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Malaysia and Afghanistan also joined the list.

In a BBC report, analysts opined that the top leadership of the party and the government may have to make public statements on the issue. Not doing so, they say, runs the risk of damaging India's ties with the Arab world and Iran.

The remark of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma made during a televised debate last month sparked a row and drew a massive backlash from Gulf countries. The issue was later shared on social media by Naveen Jindal, who was the media head of the party's Delhi unit.

Following widespread criticism, the leaders have issued public apologies and the party has suspended Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Jindal Jindal.

Critics say the comments reflect the deep religious polarisation that the country has been witnessing over the past few years. Hate speech and attacks against Muslims have risen sharply since the BJP came to power in 2014.

Meanwhile, India assuaged diplomatic concerns while stressing that the country respects all religions equally.  

In a statement issued by BJP, it said, "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion. The BJP is also against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy." 

India's ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, said the remarks from some "fringe elements" did not represent the views of the Indian government.

However, Qatar said it expected a public apology from India.

"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 marginalisation, which will create a cycle of violence and hate," Qatar's ministry of foreign affairs said.

Experts said that the BJP's response may not be enough after what looked like the country's internal matter took an international turn - Kuwait, Qatar and Iran called Indian ambassadors to register their protest

Saudi Arabia also used some strong words in its statement. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation and denunciation of the statements made by the spokeswoman of the BJP," it said.

Indonesian foreign ministry tweet reads, "Indonesia strongly condemns unacceptable derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad PBUH by two Indian politicians. This message has been conveyed to Indian Ambassador in Jakarta."

Maldives said it was "deeply concerned by the derogatory remarks made by some officials of BJP", Jordan also condemned the comments "in strongest terms". Bahrain underlined "the need to denounce any reprehensible insults against the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, as a provocation to Muslims' feelings and incitement to religious hatred." 

In Oman, a meeting was held between Sheikh Khalifa Ali Al Harthy, Foreign Ministry's Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs, and Indian Ambassador Amit Narang as he pointed out that such comments do not bode well for the peaceful coexistence. But he also welcomed the BJP's move to take action against the leaders.

Malaysia's foreign ministry said it "unreservedly condemns the derogatory remarks" by Indian politicians, adding that it had conveyed its "total repudiation" to the Indian ambassador.

"Malaysia calls upon India to work together in ending Islamophobia and cease any provocative acts in the interest of peace and stability," it said.

Meanwhile, India hit back at Pakistan and the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) over their statements on Monday, as it usually does, saying their comments were "unwarranted and narrow-minded".

"The absurdity of a serial violator of minority rights commenting on the treatment of minorities in another nation is not lost on anyone. The world has been witness to the systemic persecution of minorities" in the country, foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement after tweets by the Pakistan prime minister.

To the Islamic nations' body, Indian ministry of external affairs said that it was "regrettable that the OIC Secretariat has yet again chosen to make motivated, misleading and mischievous comments. This only exposes its divisive agenda being pursued at the behest of vested interests."

Indian opposition has been lashing out at the government over the controversy. After Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao said "'the BJP should apologise, and not India", Congress's Rahul Gandhi also criticised the government. "Divided internally, India becomes weak externally. BJP's shameful bigotry has not only isolated us, but also damaged India's standing globally," he tweeted.

In another development, Nupur Sharma has been summoned by the Mumbai Police over a case filed against her for the objectionable comments, city police commissioner Sanjay Pandey said on Monday. She had apologised for the remarks after the BJP took action against her. "The decision to send a notice to her in the case was taken days before she tendered an apology," an officer said.

India's trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE, stood at $87 billion in 2020-21. Millions of Indians live and work in these countries and send millions of dollars in remittances back home. The region is also the top source of India's energy imports.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a regular visitor to the region since coming to power in 2014. The country has already signed a free trade agreement with the UAE and is in talks with the GCC for a wider deal. Modi famously attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi in 2018 - it was termed an example of the growing ties between India and the region.

While Delhi's relations with Tehran have been lukewarm over the past few years, the controversy could overshadow Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian's upcoming visit to India.

Experts said the controversy could overshadow some of India's recent successes.

"Efforts by the current government to improve ties to the Gulf states have been real and the relationships stand transformed. Another bright spot is the handling of the Ukraine crisis," former Indian diplomat Jitendra Nath Misra told BBC.

"India's under-staffed Foreign Office will need to spend precious human resources dealing with issues that don't advance India's interests. We diplomats do our best to enlarge India's circle of friends and it's the sort of firefighting that we can do without," he added.

Another former diplomat Anil Trigunayat, who has served in the Arab world, said that India was in a difficult situation and only sincere efforts at the leadership level could prevent a negative fallout.

"Exemplary action under the law must be taken so that such fringe elements do not repeat it and create societal chaos and cause damage to the country's reputation," he said.

Other analysts say the diplomatic cost from the fallout could greatly hurt India's interests in the region.

"Indian officials often react defensively when foreign capitals, including close friends of New Delhi, criticise Indian domestic matters. But in this case, expect Indian diplomats to work quickly to defuse tensions with apologies and other forms of damage control," said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center think-tank.

Arab nations are also looking to take concrete action to soothe anger among their own people. Hashtags criticising India have been trending in these countries and the incident has been the top story in their media outlets.

Some of these hashtags have called for a boycott of Indian products. There have also been reports of some stores in Qatar and Kuwait removing Indian products from their shelves.

Kugelman said the relationship was important to both the GCC and India and both sides would be looking at mitigating the risks.

"As concerned as Delhi should be about this angry response from such a strategically critical region, India is also shielded from further damage by its own clout. Because of their economic interests, Gulf states need India to keep importing their energy, they need Indians to continue living and working there, and overall, they need to keep doing business with India," he said.

He added that there might be limits to how far these countries would go in responding to these anti-Muslim comments.