The Mumbai police have registered a case against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad during a television news debate, an official said on Sunday. The case against her was registered at Pydhonie police station in south Mumbai on the night of Saturday, May 28, on the basis of a complaint lodged by Irfan Sheikh, joint secretary of Raza Academy, a Muslim outfit, he said.
She was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief), he added. In his complaint, Sheikh said he received on WhatsApp a clip of Sharma's comment, which hurt his sentiments, the police official said.
During a debate on Times Now on the Gyanvapi issue, Nupur said that Muslims were mocking Hindus who called the ‘shivling’ that was allegedly found a fountain, and said she can mock things in the Quran as well, and went on to make a comment about Prophet Muhammed. A link to the same was shared by AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, following which Nupur claimed the video was selectively edited. She said she was getting death threats, and blamed Zubair for the same.
Tagging the Delhi Police, she said, “I am getting continuous death and beheading threats against my family and myself which are egged on by @zoo_bear because of his attempts to incite communal passions and vitiate the atmosphere by building a fake narrative.”
In response, Zubair said, “Police must act against these threats. BUT, that doesn't retrospectively justify you saying extremely hateful things against religious minorities on Live TV. If someone is actually triggering hate and violence, it's you and the channel abetting it, not those reporting on it.”
The Youth National Conference on Saturday had also demanded action against Nupur Sharma over her remarks. "The party expresses dismay over the 'blasphemous, offensive, and frighteningly hurtful' remarks of the BJP spokesperson against Prophet Muhammad during a debate on a national TV news channel," Salman Ali Sagar, provincial president, Youth National Conference (YNC) Kashmir, said in a statement. He termed Sharma's views unfounded, unsubstantiated and uncalled for in entirety.
“The BJP and the Union government must offer an unqualified apology for such sacrilegious comments in which the most sacred name for Muslims was used in a bid to stoke communal passions,” he said. The YNC leader had also demanded an FIR against the BJP leader.
With PTI inputs