Amid violent protests by Muslims across the country, demanding arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party’s former spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remark on Prophet Mohammed during a TV debate, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has issued an appeal to Islamic scholars and clerics to refrain from appearing in such shows.
In an appeal issued on Friday, the AIMPLB said that Muslim clerics and Islamic scholars should not appear in arguments and debates on those TV channels whose only objective was to make fun of Islam and insult Muslims.
The AIMPLB said that by participating in the TV debates, the Muslim leaders were not able to do any service to the community and Islam and instead they indirectly insulted and mocked both religion and the community.
The statement said, “The objective these programmes is not to arrive at any conclusion based on constructive discussions but to insult Islam and Muslims and defame them. These channels want to include one Muslim face in the debates to prove their neutrality. Our clerics and intellectuals become victims of such conspiracies unknowingly. If we boycott these programmes and channels, then not only their TRP will go down, they will also badly fail in their objectives,”
AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said that the appeal had been issued jointly by Board president Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadwi, vice-president Jalaluddin Umri and several others.
The BJP, after suspending Nupur Sharma, has also issued guidelines for its spokespersons and leaders who appear in TV debates. The party is said to have directed its spokespersons to not comment against any religion, religious heads, worshipers and religious symbols. The party has also asked them to use restrained language and not get agitated. They are not to violate the party’s ideology even if provoked by the anchors or other panelists.
The row over Nupur Sharma started over a debate on the discovery of Shivling at Gyanvapi mosque on a TV channel. Objecting to insult to Shivling and Hinduism by Muslims on social media, Nupur Sharma had questioned what if Hindus also start quoting uncomfortable facts of Prophet Mohammed from Islam texts.
The particular video clip went viral after Islamic organisations and many others posted it on Twitter, inviting the troll army to attack Nupur Sharma. The matter was further amplified and several Arab nations condemned the BJP spokesperson and demanded an apology from the government.
The situation quickly escalated in the last few days, with the BJP distancing itself from the comments and suspending Nupur Sharma. Later an FIR was registered against her by the Delhi Police along with 32 other persons. Along with that, Muslims have started protests demanding her beheading and arrest. The first violent protests took place in Kanpur Nagar on June 3 after the Friday prayers. The situation further deteriorated on Friday as violent protests were organised by the Muslims in Prayagraj, Ranchi, Howrah and Sholapur in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has restrained its leaders and panelists from participating in TV debates and issuing statements about the row over Nupur Sharma remarks on Prophet Mohammed and subsequent violence across the country.