Indian SC Asks Nurpur Sharma To Apologize Over Contemptuous Remarks Against Holy Prophet (PBUH)

The Indian top court has remarked that the ruling BJB's leader has put national security risk.

New Delhi: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-July 1st, 2022) The Indian Supreme Court on Friday snubbed Nupur Sharma, observing that she should "apologise to the whole nation" for putting the country's national security at risk.

Nurpur Sharma, the member of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) hurt Muslims in India and around the world by committing blasphemy of islam and Propher of Islam Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.w).

The Indian Muslims took to the streets to protest against Sharma for committing blasphemy.

"We saw the debate on how she was incited. But the way she said all this and later says she was a lawyer, it is shameful. She should apologise to the whole country," NDTV quoted Justice Surya Kant as saying.

BJP's Naveen Kumar Jindal, had made disrespectful remarks about Holy Prophet (PBUH) last month, drawing criticism and rebuke from across the world, particularly Muslim countries.

For its part, the BJP had suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal after the strong reaction to their comments.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party faced condemnation in Muslim countries and other nations. Muslims took to the streets across Asia, including India, where protesters faced a crackdown by Indian authorities.

Meanwhile, multiple cases were registered against Sharma in different cities, following which she moved the SC to transfer all cases against her to Delhi, citing threats.

As the SC took up her plea today, it blamed Sharma for "igniting tension" by her derogatory comments about Holy Prophet (PBUH). “She is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country”, Hindustan Times quoted the court as saying.

“Her outburst is responsible for the unfortunate incident at Udaipur,” the court added, referring to the grisly beheading of a tailor in the Indian city earlier this week.

According to India Today, the court noted that Sharma's comments were made either for "cheap publicity, a political agenda or for some nefarious activities".

The court also said that she had "threatened the security of the nation".

"A spokesperson can't make such statements. Sometimes power goes into the heads of people and they think they are everything. Why didn't she (Sharma) file a case against the ones who instigated her to make these statements?" the SC bench said.

The Hindustan Times reported that the court dismissed Sharma's petition, saying: "When you lodge a complaint against someone, that person is arrested but nobody dares to touch you. That shows your clout."

US condemns 'offensive comments'

Earlier this month, the United States had also condemned Sharma's "offensive comments". During a press briefing, a journalist raised the issue of the BJP members' offensive remarks and the subsequent demolition of Muslims' houses.

"Would you like to say something about these hate crimes committed by [the] Indian government against Muslims and other minorities?" he asked US State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

In reply, price said, "Well, this is something that we’ve condemned. We condemn the offensive comments made by two BJP officials, and we were glad to see that the party publicly condemned those comments."

He further said the US regularly engaged with the Indian government at senior levels on human rights concerns, including freedom of religion, of belief, and "we encourage India to promote respect for human rights".

The secretary added: "The Indian people and the American people, we believe in the same values: human dignity, human respect, equality of opportunity, and the freedom of religion or belief. These are fundamental tenets, these are fundamental values within any democracy, and we speak up for them around the world."