The BJP on Sunday suspended its national spokesperson Nupura Sharma from the party following her alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad which had ignited protests from Muslim groups.
"Your primary membership is immediately terminated and you are expelled from the party," a communication from BJP Delhi president Adesh Gupta said.
A communication to Sharma from the party's disciplinary committee said she has expressed views contrary to the party's position on various matters, which is in clear violation of its constitution.
"Pending further inquiry, you are suspended from the party and from your responsibilities, assignments if any, with immediate effect," it said.
Here's you need to know about the BJP leader:
Who is Nupur Sharma?
A graduate in economics from Delhi University’s Hindu College and LLB from the university’s Faculty of Law, Sharma, 37, also has a Master’s degree in law from the London School of Economics.
She started her stint in politics as a student leader and, in 2008, went on to win the post of Delhi University Students’ Union president. It was a time when the Congress’s student wing, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), had a strong presence on campuses. So while Nupur managed to get the president’s post, all other posts were won by the NSUI. The most high-profile of her electoral contests, however, remains the 2015 Delhi Assembly election, when she took on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat. She lost by 31,583 votes.
Sharma, who has been a prominent face of the party’s youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, has held several positions in the party such as national executive committee member of the youth wing and member of the Delhi state executive committee. In 2017, she was appointed Delhi BJP’s spokesperson when then state unit chief Manoj Tiwari formed his team.
In September 2020, when JP Nadda set up his team, Sharma was picked as a national spokesperson.
Nupur Sharma's remarks on Prophet Muhammad:
Nupur Sharma's alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad had ignited protests from Muslim groups.
Sharma has also been named in multiple police cases in Maharashtra over her comment. She has withdorwn her remarks and claimed that she has been receiving death threats
Outrage by middle eastern coutries
Ahead of the Iranian Foreign Minister's first-ever trip to New Delhi next week, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Indian ambassador to Tehran over what state media called "insult against Prophet of Islam in an Indian TV show".
Apart from Iran, Qatar and Kuwait had also summoned India's Ambassadors and handed over to them protest notes on what the Gulf countries called categorical "rejection and condemnation" of the controversial remarks of a BJP leader against Prophet Mohammed.
Seeking to defuse a diplomatic row, a spokesperson of the Indian Embassy in Qatar said that the "Ambassador conveyed that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements." The spokesperson said that Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal had a meeting in the Foreign Office in which concerns were raised with regard to some offensive tweets by individuals in India denigrating the religious personality.
Protest by the Muslim community
Protests erupted across several parts of the nation on Friday against the Prophet row, with the agitators demanding action and arrest of the suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and her former party colleague Naveen Jindal.
Protests were witnessed in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Ranchi, Ahmedabad, Navi Mumbai, Ludhiana, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir. The protest also turned violent at few places.
(With inputs from agencies)
