Parliament rejects motion on government’s failure to condemn slander of Prophet Muhammed

Parliament, on Monday, has rejected the emergency motion submitted over the Maldivian government’s failure to condemn India’s ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) spokespersons’ slander of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The emergency motion was filed by Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef Umar.

In presenting his motion to the parliament floor this morning – MP Shareef stressed that BJP’s National Spokesperson Nupur Sharma had made false and defamatory statements against Prophet Muhammed during a debate held by an Indian broadcasting channel.

Citing that other countries have urged action against India over the statements – MP Shareef said that he is disheartened over the fact that the Maldivian government has not condemned the act.

“It is extremely concerning that Maldives as a fully Islamic country has not said a word over the slander of Prophet Muhammad whilst Indian Muslims, leaders and citizens of Islamic countries have protested, condemning the act in strong words; foreign relations bodies of some countries have summoned Indian ambassadors over the matter and social media campaigns have been launched at some countries urging action against India,” the statement read.

A total of 43 parliamentarians took part in the vote to decide whether to accept or reject the emergency motion. The emergency motion was rejected by the votes of 33 parliamentarians; with only 10 parliamentarians voting to accept it.

Prophet Muhammad was slandered by BJP’s National Spokesperson Nupur Sharma and New Delhi’s Media Operation Head Naveen Kumar Jindal. Whilst Sharma has been suspended from the party over the matter, Jindal has been expelled.

Qatar, Kuwait and Iran had summoned Indian Ambassadors based in their respective countries regarding the matter – to express their grievances.

Meanwhile, citizens of Muslim countries and youths residing at non-Muslim countries have commenced campaigns urging the boycott of Indian products.

In the statement released by BJP over the matter, the party said that they respect all religions – adding that it is not the party’s policy to slander any religious figures or symbols. Nevertheless, they apologized for the remarks made by a member of the party and assured such a thing will not happen again.