The Indian government sought on Monday to calm anger at home and abroad after two officials of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party made statements insulting to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, while an official in the ruling Indian party considered that insisting on asking his party to apologize is unnecessary.

The authorities arrested 38 people in a riot that erupted because of these statements in the city of Kanpur (in the north of the country), at a time when a protest is planned for later in Mumbai.

The arrests came as part of attempts to contain religious tension that escalates in the country from time to time, and was fueled by statements made by officials in the ruling party that caused widespread anger among Muslims inside and outside India.

Indignation and demands for apology

In Cairo, Al-Azhar said in a statement that the statements represented "the very real terrorism that could plunge the entire world into deadly crises and wars, and hence the international community must confront firmly, valiantly and forcefully to stop the dangers of these abusers."

An important and urgent statement from the International Commission to Support the Prophet of Islam..


The anger of Muslims will not be extinguished before these demands are met.. Otherwise, India will bear the consequences # Except_Messenger_God_Ya_Modi# Public apology# Criminalizing the demolition of mosques# Repealing the procedures for banning the veil# Repealing unjust family laws# Stop demolishing Muslim homes pic.ZtDchr

— Global Commission to Support the Prophet of Islam (@SupportProphetM) June 5, 2022

After the authorities in Qatar, Kuwait and Iran summoned India's ambassadors to lodge an official protest, and Saudi Arabia condemned the statements through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque said in a statement that "such a heinous act does not represent respect for religions."

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Nayef Al-Hajraf, expressed - in a statement - his "condemnation, rejection and denunciation of the statements," stressing "the position that rejects provocation, targeting or underestimating beliefs and religions."

The Saudi-based Muslim World League warned of "the dangers involved in methods of inciting hatred, including insulting religious symbols," while the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the decision to suspend the spokeswoman for the Indian party.

The best way to stop state-sponsored Islamophobia is through economic organizing.#BoycottIndianProducts

— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) June 5, 2022

The "Society for Peace Movement" in Algeria called on the Indian government to present an "official apology to Muslims and a pledge not to repeat this," calling for a "global donation to support the Noble Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and to exercise all forms of pressure and legal, political and diplomatic sanctions."

Indian parking

India's foreign ministry said in a statement that the offensive tweets and statements did not in any way reflect the government's view.

The party suspended a female spokeswoman and fired another official on Sunday for hurting the feelings of the country's religious minority.

For his part, Sudhanshu Mittal, a leader in India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said that insisting on the party's demand for an apology was unnecessary.

Mittal said - in an interview with Al Jazeera - that the party has taken the necessary measures, and affirmed its refusal to offend religious symbols, and this is sufficient and fair.

Muhammad is the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him.

Anڈin Mayڈa Pr Rsat Mb Salعم K Sn M GستSاخAAے K خلاف Dn Br M .#BoycottIndianProducts

— Hammad Ahmad (@i_hmd3) June 5, 2022

Some of the most prominent officials in India participated in managing the diplomatic crisis that erupted with some Arab and Islamic countries (such as Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Emirates and Iran), some of which demanded an apology from the government for allowing such statements, and some of them summoned Indian diplomats to protest against the statements of officials. Bharatiya Janata Party.

The volume of Indian trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council - which includes Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE - is estimated at $90 billion in 2020-2021, and about 8.7 million out of 13.5 million Indian expatriates live in the Gulf region alone.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in the past few years cemented economic ties with energy-rich Gulf states, which are the country's main source of fuel imports.

It's now time to further the #BoycottIndianProducts globally.

If not now then when?

— Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur (@M_A_Thakur) June 5, 2022

Attacks against Indian Muslims

Muslims make up about 13% of India's population of 1.35 billion.

Since the success of the extremist nationalist Bharata Janata Party (BJP) to retain power after winning the general elections in May 2019, Muslims have been subjected to waves of violence, and many Indian states have witnessed a significant increase in cases of attacks against them, and a noticeable increase in hate crimes and racism against them.

The following are the most prominent attacks against Indian Muslims during the past nine months:

  • In September 2021, a number of Muslim farmers were killed in the state of Assam (northeast India), and their bodies were mutilated during the displacement and evictions carried out by the authorities there since 2016.

  • In October of the same year, many Muslim homes and mosques in Tripura state (Northern India) were subjected to violence by Hindu extremist groups on the pretext that the Hindu minority in neighboring Bangladesh had been attacked.

  • In December 2021, during a conference in the state of Uttarakhand (Northern India), hundreds of activists and monks in Hindu extremist groups said that they would turn India into a Hindu nation even if it meant death and murder.

  • Last February, Muslim students in Karnataka (southern India) were prevented from entering government educational institutions for wearing a headscarf.

  • In April of this year, 6 Indian states witnessed violence and attacks against Muslims during the celebrations of a Hindu holiday, without the intervention of the authorities to protect them.

  • In the month of Ramadan, a significant increase in cases of attacks on mosques was observed during Tarawih prayers, and extremist Hindu groups carried out programmed attacks against mosques, homes and shops of Muslims, and sang Hindu "saffron songs" calling for Muslims to be killed and deported from the country.