Justice For All Condemns BJP Statements Against Prophet Muhammad, Demands Arrests 

Justice for All strongly condemns the derogatory statements against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made in India. 

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, is yet again proving why its considered the most anti-Muslim government in recent years.

On May 27th, during a TV prime time show on Times Now channel, BJP’s national spokesperson Nupur Sharma made derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).  She made the slanderous comments in a debate on Gyanvapi Mosque where a fountain in the wudu (ablution) area is now being claimed by militant Hindu groups as a shivling, a Hindu diety’s phallic statue. Remarks were also made by Naveen Kumar Jindal, BJP Delhi Media Operation Head. Justice For All demands the arrest of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal in accordance with Indian laws. 

In recent years, Hindus aligned with the Modi govt. have escalated their campaign of hate and violence against Muslims in India. This escalation is fueled by hate speeches made by BJP leaders, and by religious leaders aligned with the RSS/BJP govt. of PM Modi. One such religious leader, Yati Narsinghanand, has called for a genocide of Indian Muslims, and announced an award of 10 Million Indian rupees for recruiting suicide bombers. He also has made derogatory speeches against the prophet, Muhammad (pbuh).  Additionally police often side with attackers, and this emboldens mobs to carry out their deadly missions against Muslims without fear of law.

After hurting religious sentiments of Muslims, when Muslims in Kanpur city in Uttar Pradesh called for a protest after Friday prayers, violence broke out between Hindutva mobs and Muslim groups. The police registered three first information reports (FIRs) against more than 1,000 unknown persons, of which 55 have been named as accused, all of whom are Muslims. No one from the Hindutva mobs was arrested. The senior police officials have also planned to seize and demolish properties of the Muslim protestors arrested.

This is the same pattern that is seen in other parts of India, and has become what can only be termed as a sadistic trend on the part of authorities against Muslims. RSS/BJP aligned mobs instigate Muslims and persecute them with threats and violence. When Muslims resist, authorities step in with state-sanctioned persecution, using bulldozers to destroy the Muslim properties.

The BJP government is systemically stripping religious freedom of Muslims. BJP leaders are increasingly using abusive language against Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who is dearer to Muslims than their own families or themselves.

Attacking the religious sentiments of 2 billion of the world’s Muslims is a despicable act. But beyond that, Indian laws exist under Section 295 A of the Indian penal code, which define attacks on religious sentiment as a punishable crime. Justice For All demands the arrest of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal. The Indian government must follow its laws, and arrest these instigators immediately and charge them with instigating religious disharmony.