India on Monday slammed Pakistan for its comment on the ongoing controversy over Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi sought to highlight the discrimination and enormous challenges the minorities in Pakistan face and underlined that the Government of India 'accords the highest respect to all religions'.
Bagchi said that the world has witnessed the systemic persecution of minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Ahmadiyyas by Pakistan and asked Islamabad to "focus on the safety, security and well-being of its minority communities instead of engaging in alarmist propaganda."
"The absurdity of a serial violator of minority rights commenting on the treatment of minorities in another nation is not lost on anyone. The world has been witness to the systemic persecution of minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Ahmadiyyas by Pakistan," he said in a statement.
"The Government of India accords the highest respect to all religions. This is quite unlike Pakistan where fanatics are eulogized and monuments built in their honour," Bagchi added.
"We call on Pakistan to focus on the safety, security and well-being of its minority communities instead of engaging in alarmist propaganda and attempting to foment communal disharmony in India," he said.
MEA's reply comes after Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday condemned the controversial remarks by BJP functionaries directed at Prophet Mohammed.
A major controversy erupted last week after BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma allegedly made objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammed during a TV debate. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday suspended Sharma and expelled Naveen Kumar Jindal, the party's Delhi unit media head, for their controversial remarks against the Prophet.
Nupur Sharma withdraws statement
After suspension, Nupur Sharma on Sunday evening unconditionally withdrew the statement made during a TV debate and said it was never her intention to hurt anyone's religious feelings. Sharma claimed that her comments were a reaction to "continuous insult and disrespect towards our Mahadev"' (Lord Shiva) as she could not tolerate it.
In a statement posted on Twitter, she said, "I have been attending TV debates for the past many days where our Mahadev was being insulted and disrespected continuously. It was mockingly being said that it is not Shivling but a fountain. The Shivling was also being ridiculed by comparing it to roadside signs and poles in Delhi." "If my words have caused discomfort or hurt religious feelings of anyone whatsoever, I hereby unconditionally withdraw my statement. It was never my intention to hurt anyone's religious feelings."
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