Apart from ousting two office-bearers, the BJP Govt must defuse tensions with the Middle East

The BJP has done the right thing by expelling party official spokesperson Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, the media head of its Delhi unit, over their controversial remarks about Prophet Muhammad. The Indian Government was also prompt in trashing these leaders as “fringe elements,” something that has been appreciated by Saudi Arabia, the fourth Muslim nation which “expressed its condemnation and denunciation of the statements (by Sharma)”. Earlier on Sunday, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran had summoned the Indian ambassadors to protest against the ex-BJP leaders’ comments. “Allowing such Islamophobic remarks to continue without punishment constitutes a grave danger to the protection of human rights and may lead to further prejudice and marginalisation, which will create a cycle of violence and hate,” Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. India’s Ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, was quick to respond, arguing that the remarks from some “fringe elements” did not reflect the Indian Government’s views. One only hopes that the response of senior BJP leaders and other Indians with similar views may soon defuse the situation; we have multifarious and vital interests in the Middle East, which we ill afford to put at risk just because some saffron extremists want to score brownie points in endless and futile debates on TV news channels. Apart from our dependence on oil from these Arab nations, our trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was around $87 billion in 2020-21. The GCC comprises Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE. With the UAE, India also has a free trade agreement. Besides, there are millions of Indians residing in Muslim countries who send billions of dollars in remittances back home. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invested a lot of political capital in the GCC. In 2016, Saudi Arabia conferred the highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash. The instant issue may fade in a short time, but the BJP — indeed the entire political class — has to ponder over a few important questions: Shouldn’t there be limits which they voluntarily don’t cross for the sake of decency and decorum? Shouldn’t they stop encouraging and rewarding the leaders who make deplorable, disgraceful remarks? Shouldn’t politics be oriented around reason and facts instead of, as it is now, around sentiments and sanctimony? Saffron leaders are in office, so most of the responsibility to restore some sense and sanity in politics lies with them. There are members in the Union Council who have made reprehensible remarks in the past, but there were no consequences; in fact, the general impression is that they benefited politically because of their unsavoury comments. The BJP’s rivals too are prone to making offensive comments. Akbaruddin Owaisi is a case in point; more than once, he has said things which are not acceptable in any civilised society. It is time the political class acted now, for the sake of the nation. To begin with, they must stop hate speech — right away.