- Thursday, May 02, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
FORMER Indian vice president Hamid Ansari, who feels the backlash that the country faced over the controversial remarks made by Nupur Sharma, the now-suspended leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is more political, said the statements issued by the diplomatic establishments is “not enough”. He wanted prime minister Narendra Modi to take a proactive stance on the issue.
According to the 85-year-old Ansari who has also been a career diplomat, it is not enough for the official spokesperson to issue a clarification on the issue.
“This should have been dealt with at an appropriate political level…prime minister Narendra Modi could have diffused the issue but no one thought it fit to do this at an appropriate time,” NDTV reported about Ansari saying on Wednesday (8).
The veteran, who has worked as an envoy in the Gulf, said the Indian ambassadors who were summoned by the Muslim nations over the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad responded that they are the view of “fringe elements” and not the government.
The envoys also told those countries that the ruling party has taken action against those who made the remarks. It has also issued a strong statement, saying it is “strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion”. Sharma was suspended by the BJP after the controversy snowballed while Naveen Kumar Jindal, the media head of the BJP’s Delhi unit, was expelled for airing controversial viewpoints.
According to Ansari, none of these serves the purpose.
He said prime minister Modi should have spoken on the issue.
What would be his message to the prime minister? To this, Ansari said, “The PM should have said the appropriate thing… He knows what to say. I don’t have to tell him what to do and what not to do.”
Highlighting the Gulf region’s importance for India, Ansari said there are 52 member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, “which is an important voting bloc in the United Nations”.
“So, it is not a question of a particular country taking opposition which offends us. It is a question of 52 members of the United Nations taking opposition on a matter which there was uncalled for intervention by the spokesperson of a particular party,” the Indian news channel quoted him as saying.
Ansari, who felt the backlash was “inevitable”, added, “This is not a matter of an individual. It affects a community of a particular faith… if it affects every Muslim on the globe then such a reaction is bound to happen.”
