Jakarta –
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s old remarks about the Prophet Muhammad made several years ago, are used out of context amid the ongoing uproar about the Prophet Muhammad in India.
On 23 December 2021, Putin said insults to the Prophet Muhammad “are a violation of religious freedom and hurt the feelings of Muslims”.
This was stated by Putin in his annual press statement published by the Russian news agency, TASS ..
But social media users in India, even members of the opposition Congress Party, “recycle” Putin’s remarks.
They argue that Putin’s remarks are now being made as criticism of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling party.
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The posting of Putin’s old comments was also made by the leader of the Congress Party from Tamil Nadu in southern India and by a United Arab Emirates royal on Twitter, which has been posted on Twitter.retweet more than 7,000 times.
The post was also shared by various unverified Twitter accounts.
Statements about the Prophet Muhammad made by two BJP officials recently have drawn anger from the country’s minority Muslim community, sparking condemnation from a number of countries and heating up India’s diplomatic relations with several Muslim countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The demonstrators demanded the arrest of the spokesman for the BJP, Nupur Sharma, for his remarks that were deemed blasphemous to the Prophet Muhammad. (Getty Images)
The statement by the BJP official underscores the worsening religious polarization in India. Hate speech and attacks against the Muslim community have worsened since the BJP came to power in 2014.
As of Friday (10/06), Putin has not issued a statement or reacted to the controversy about the BJP and the Prophet Muhammad.
His statement in 2021 has nothing to do with the ongoing debate, despite what some social media users from India and the Middle East claim.
Putin’s remarks from 2021 were made as part of his annual press conference.
On that occasion, he emphasized that acts such as insulting the Prophet trigger revenge from extremist groups, citing the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in 2015.
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There is also an upload of a photo of Putin with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. Below this photo is included Putin’s statement in 2021.
Using an image search method, the BBC found that the photo was made in 2019, when Putin visited Saudi Arabia.
The photo has absolutely nothing to do with Putin’s statement about the Prophet Muhammad.
A photo of Putin with King Salman of Saudi Arabia in 2019 was also used out of context. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/POOL/AFP)
Controversy about Prophet Muhammad
The former BJP spokesman, Nupur Sharma, made the controversial remarks about the Prophet Muhammad during a TV debate show about two weeks ago.
Sharma’s statement sparked anger from India’s Muslim community and condemnation from many Islamic countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Maldives, Jordan, Libya, Bahrain, and Indonesia.
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Indonesia, Kuwait, Iran and Qatar immediately summoned the Indian ambassadors in their respective countries to express their protest, while Saudi Arabia has issued a firm statement.
The Indian diplomat said that the BJP politician’s statement did not reflect the attitude of the Indian government.
On Sunday (05/06), the BJP had dismissed Sharma from the party.
The head of the BJP in Delhi, Naveen Kumar Jindal, was also expelled for sharing screenshots of Sharma’s provocative remarks in a post on Twitter.
After being suspended, Sharma said he withdrew his statement “unconditionally”.
But he also tried to justify his earlier statement by claiming that it was in response to “continued insults to the Hindu god Shiva”.
(it/it)
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