Int’l Backlash Inexhaustible —- As “Fringes Roam Free”    

After hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims across the globe by making derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)—as damage control—expelled its spokespersons, much-known Nupur Sharma; and Navin Jindal. The expulsion came after several countries in the Arab world registered their protest and issued statements condemning the conduct of the members of the ruling party in India. Qatar started it, who called in the Indian envoy to protest the remarks made, and then Kuwait, UAE, Iran, and Saudi Arabia followed suit. In most of the Gulf countries, there has been a diplomatic embarrassment that the country has been made to face while there also have been reports that Indian-made products are now being pulled out of stores across various Arab countries.
The respective envoys in these countries, which have lodged their protests following the remarks made by Nupur Sharma, have duly issued their statements and have noted that the remarks that have been made during a TV debate do not reflect the views of the Government of India, rather, the same were the views of the “fringe elements”. Here, one would pause and think over the fact that these people belong to the BJP—which is in power—and were always seen presenting and defending the Government’s side of the story on the TV shows. If they are the “fringe,” then what is the party which is ruling this country?
The way the BJP has reacted to the developments by expelling those who made such comments and disbanding its spokespersons, it has tried to project that it does not subscribe to the views of its former spokespersons, now “fringe” and that it respects the religious sentiments of all the religions, but is not so black and white.
BJP was apparently woken up to the communal overtones when there was a backlash from the Gulf. The Government and even the BJP earlier did not respond when they were told, shown by the people within the country that it was ending up promoting a venomous environment across India, but is now perhaps pretending to have woken up after people outside flagged the fault. The flagging of the fault, this time, has come with a price to pay: it has not only dented the ties of India with the Arab world but also gifted a diplomatic and international embarrassment to the country.
However, the question remains of the further action taken by the party against those who have committed the crime. Expelling them is not going to suffice nor is the public apology, rather, to uphold the secular and pluralistic fabric of the country—where religions are respected throughout—a harsh punishment as per the law of the land is inevitable and expected…soon. Also, the statements issued which mentioned the “fringe elements” needs to be elaborated.