Indian police arrest Hindu youth leader over anti-Muslim comments
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The Indian police arrests a local politician for making insulting remarks against Muslims and says at least 50 people were taken into custody following tensions.
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The police arrested Harshit Srivastava, a youth leader from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party
Indian officials confirmed on Wednesday that police in northern India arrested a youth leader from the Hindu nationalist ruling party for posting anti-Muslim comments on social media.
The police arrested Harshit Srivastava, a youth leader from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, following tensions during a protest denouncing the anti-Islam comments last week.
"We arrested the local politician for making inflammatory remarks against Muslims," mentioned Prashant Kumar, a senior police official, noting that at least 50 other people were taken into custody following the tensions.
Atmosphere of hatred, harassment toward Muslims
Parts of India witnessed unrest after Islamophobic and derogatory comments were made against the Prophet by BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma during a television debate.
The BJP announced that Sharma has been suspended from the party, while another spokesperson, Naveen Kumar Jindal, was expelled over the anti-Muslim comments he made on social media.
Sharma, commenting about Muslim worship and the Prophet, made insulting comments in a debate with a Muslim opponent on television 10 days ago. After the comments were met with anger, Jindal added to the insults about the prophet, which caused further outrage.
This comes after Islamic nations leaders such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan demanded apologies from India and summoned Indian diplomats in protest of the anti-Muslim remarks.
On its part, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) considered in a statement that the remarks came amid an increasingly intense atmosphere of hatred and harassment toward Muslims in India.
Indian government strongly opposes insults
On Monday, India's Foreign Ministry said the offensive comments did not in any way reflect the Indian government's views, while the BJP claimed that it "strongly opposes any ideology that insults or degrades any sect or religion," noting that it "does not promote such people or philosophy."
Despite such reassurances, several Indian towns and states have seen widespread and organized campaigns of persecution against the Muslim minority in recent months, backed by radical Hindus' violence.
The decision to prohibit the wearing of headscarves in schools and educational institutions, as well as the demolition of Muslim property, have all drawn widespread outrage.
