India: Police arrest ruling party youth leader for anti-Muslim comments

A youth chief from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) has been arrested for anti-Muslim feedback as a row over Islamophobia continues within the nation.

Harshit Srivastava was arrested in Kanpur metropolis, northern Uttar Pradesh state, following communal tensions final week throughout a protest by Muslims denouncing Islamophobic remarks made by one other BJP official.

Muslim nations slam India over insulting remarks about Prophet Muhammad

Learn Extra »

“We arrested the native politician for making inflammatory remarks in opposition to Muslims,” Prashant Kumar, a senior police official, advised Reuters.

He stated that no less than 50 folks had been taken into custody following the tensions in Kanpur.

Srivastava’s lawyer was not out there for a remark.

Sporadic unrest was reported in different components of the nation after the feedback in opposition to the Prophet Muhammad by BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma throughout a tv debate.

ADVERTISEMENT

She has been suspended from the occasion, whereas one other spokesman, Naveen Kumar Jindal, was expelled over feedback he made about Islam on social media, the BJP has stated.

Worldwide outcry

Home outrage gained contemporary momentum after chiefs from Islamic nations, together with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, demanded apologies from the Indian authorities and summoned diplomats to protest in opposition to the anti-Islam remarks.

The influential 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation stated in an announcement that the insults got here within the context of an more and more intense environment of hatred towards Islam in India and systematic harassment of Muslims.

India and Israel: The arms commerce in charts and numbers

Learn Extra »

India’s overseas ministry stated on Monday the offensive tweets and feedback didn’t in any manner replicate the federal government’s views.

The controversy has turn into a diplomatic problem for Modi, who lately has cemented sturdy ties with energy-rich Islamic nations.

Directions have been issued to a number of members of his Hindu nationalist occasion to be “extraordinarily cautious” when speaking about faith on public platforms.

Members of Islamic rights teams in India stated it was the primary time influential overseas chiefs had spoken out in opposition to what they known as the humiliation skilled by the minority group.

“Our voices have lastly been heard. Solely world chiefs can nudge Modi’s authorities and his occasion to alter their angle in direction of Muslims,” stated Ali Asghar Mohammed, who runs a voluntary rights group for Muslims in Mumbai.