WASHINGTON, June 17(ABC): The United States (US) condemned the derogatory remarks of BJP’s members against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) which has sparked outrage around the Muslim world and demanded an apology from the Indian government.
The condemnation from the US government came days after India’s ruling party BJP’s spokesperson Nupur Sharma and its media head Naveen Kumar Jindal had passed hateful comments toward Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Following the incident, Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Oman, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Jordan, Libya, and Bahrain not only had condemned the remarks but also boycotted Indian products.
The Indian police also shot dead two Muslims protesting the BJP spokesperson’s blasphemous remarks and demolished a female Muslim activist’s house illegally.
Late Thursday night, in a press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price condemned the incident and urged for respect human rights.
“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 added.
Ned Price further stated that the US government regularly raises issues regarding human rights and freedom of religion.
“We regularly engage with the Indian government at senior levels on human rights concerns, including freedom of religion or belief, and we encourage India to promote respect for human rights,” he said.
Ned Price went on to say that the secretary said 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,” he said.