Indian American lawmaker calls for a halt to the erosion of minority rights in India, in America, and everywhere
Amid an international uproar over the issue, Indian American lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi has condemned the derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad made by two officials of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Noting that fraying of minority rights threatens the collective power and potential of a country, the Congressman from Illinois Tuesday also called for a halt to “the erosion of these rights in India, in America, and everywhere.”
“As a religious, cultural, and ethnic minority who is also an Indian-American immigrant,” Krishnamoorthi said he was “disturbed by such comments which are deeply offensive to Indian-Muslims and Muslims across the world.”
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BJP has since taken disciplinary action against Nupur Sharma, who was a spokesperson of the BJP and Naveen Jindal, who was media head of the party’s Delhi unit. Sharma made the remark in a televised debate last month, while Jindal had posted a provocative tweet on the issue.
The two officials have issued public apologies and BJP has suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal.
“I strongly condemn recent derogatory and offensive remarks made by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal regarding the Prophet Muhammad on television and social media,” Krishnamoorthi stated.
“As a religious, cultural, and ethnic minority who is also an Indian-American immigrant, I am disturbed by such comments which are deeply offensive to Indian-Muslims and Muslims across the world.”
“In any functioning democracy, we must ensure that individuals of all faiths are able to prosper, which requires us to respect and project empathy toward all religions and religious figures, especially when they are not our own,” he stated.
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“In any democracy, our strength is our diversity, and our unity is our power,” Krishnamoorthi. The fraying of minority rights threatens the collective power and potential of a country, and therefore, we must halt the erosion of these rights in India, in America, and everywhere.”
Meanwhile, the UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Jordan, Libya and Bahrain have joined the growing list of countries in the Islamic world that have condemned the remarks.
Earlier, Kuwait, Iran and Qatar had called Indian ambassadors to register their protest, and Saudi Arabia had issued a strongly worded statement.
Indian diplomats have been trying to placate these countries with whom it shares cordial relations.