The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday asserted that it respects all religions and strongly denounces insult of any religious personality, seeking to defuse a row over controversial remarks allegedly made by its spokesperson against Prophet Muhammad.
Amid a row over remarks of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, party general secretary Arun Singh said in a statement that the party is strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. “The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy,” he said. Meanwhile, the BJP has suspended Sharma from the party’s primary membership.
The BJP statement, however, made no direct mention of any incident or comment. Sharma’s remarks have drawn protests from Muslim groups.
“During the thousands of years of history of India, every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions. The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion,” Singh said.
“India’s Constitution gives right to every citizen to practice any religion of his or her choice and to honour and respect every religion,” he said.
“As India celebrates 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 BJP leader said.
For the unversed, an FIR was registered against Nupur Sharma in Maharashtra’s Pune for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through her comments on Prophet Muhammad during a television news debate. Police invoked sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence), 153B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC against her.
(with PTI inputs)
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