US Encourages India To Promote Respect For Human Rights, Condemns Indian Officials’ Remarks Against Prophet

United States – The United States encouraged India to promote respect for human rights and condemned the offensive remarks made against Prophet Muhammad by two now suspended BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) members.

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday, “We’ve condemned the offensive comments made by two BJP functionaries.” However, he welcomed the action taken by the BJP to suspend Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal. He further said, “We regularly engage with the Indian government at senior levels on human rights concerns.”

While responding to a question by a reporter, he said, “We encourage India to promote respect for human rights. Indian people and the American people believe in the same values: human dignity, respect, equality of opportunity, and the freedom of religion or belief.”

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Insulting statements against Prophet Muhammad by Indian officials

The alleged insulting statements against Prophet Muhammad by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal have led to an unprecedented diplomatic backlash, especially from Muslim nations. Countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and Afghanistan condemned India for derogatory remarks against the Prophet.

How did the entire controversy start?

Nupur Sharma made inflammatory remarks about the Prophet during a TV debate on an Indian channel. Later on, Naveen Kumar Jindal took to his official Twitter handle and posted a tweet which triggered a massive nationwide outrage. He had made controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammad. Subsequently, protests against India started in Muslim nations. Some Muslim leaders also demanded an action to end Islamophobia in the world.

Later, BJP issued a circular saying that this was Sharma’s statement and that BJP had nothing to do with it. BJP also suspended Sharma from the party’s primary membership and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal over the incident.

The incident was also discussed at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India meeting on Thursday.