BJP clarifies its remark & asserts that party respect all religion amid row

|HT|

Amid a row triggered by the comments of one of its spokespersons on national TV against Prophet Muhammad, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday chose to distance itself from the controversial remark and asserted that the party respects all religions. In a statement signed by national general secretary Arun Singh, the party said, “The BJP is strictly against any ideology that insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such persons or philosophy.”

The statement goes on to add that that Indian Constitution gives people the right to follow their faith and practice their religion.

“The BJP strongly denounces the insult of any religious personalities of any religion,” the party said.

The statement comes close on the heels of comments made by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat this week which said there is no reason to escalate fights.

Though the BJP has not named the spokesperson or referred to the comments aired on the TV show there has been widespread protest against party spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s comments on a television channel against the Prophet. On Friday, clashes erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur after members of two groups threw stones at each other over a call to shut down markets in protest against her statement made in the context of the controversy over the Gyanvapi issue. Complaints were also raised against the media head of the Delhi unit of the BJP, who had also referred to the Prophet derogatorily.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)