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On 5 June, Sharma was suspended from the BJP. The party statement said, "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion."<ref name="Guardian"/> Afterwards, Sharma said that she was "unconditionally" withdrawing her remarks, but also made an attempt to justify them claiming that they were in response to the "continuous insult and disregard" towards the Hindu deity [[Shiva]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="BBC bio">{{citation |author=Geeta Pandey |title=Nupur Sharma: The Indian woman behind offensive Prophet Muhammad comments |newspaper=BBC News |date=7 June 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-61716241 |access-date=7 June 2022 |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607133341/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-61716241 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On 5 June, Sharma was suspended from the BJP. The party statement said, "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion."<ref name="Guardian"/> Afterwards, Sharma said that she was "unconditionally" withdrawing her remarks, but also made an attempt to justify them claiming that they were in response to the "continuous insult and disregard" towards the Hindu deity [[Shiva]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="BBC bio">{{citation |author=Geeta Pandey |title=Nupur Sharma: The Indian woman behind offensive Prophet Muhammad comments |newspaper=BBC News |date=7 June 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-61716241 |access-date=7 June 2022 |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607133341/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-61716241 |url-status=live }}</ref>


Twitter hashtags like #ShameOnBJP trended after Ms. Sharma’s suspension. Many prominent BJP supporters, though not officially members of the BJP, expressed the sentiment that Ms. Sharma had been abandoned by the party at a time when she had received death threats over her remarks. They also criticised the party and the government for buckling under international pressure. <ref name="WP Muslim nations"/><ref name="BBC bio"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hebbar |first=Nistula |date=2022-06-06 |title=Suspension of spokesperson sets off internal churn in BJP |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/suspension-of-spokesperson-sets-off-internal-churn-in-bjp/article65500077.ece |access-date=2022-06-11 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
The BJP supporters, including some popular politicians, rallied behind Nupur Sharma and criticised the party and the government for buckling under international pressure. Hashtags such as "#ShameOnBJP" and "#ISupportNupurSharma" started trending on Twitter.<ref name="WP Muslim nations"/><ref name="BBC bio"/><ref name="Telegraph ecosystem">{{citation |title=Right-wing ecosystem turns on BJP for suspending Nupur Sharma |newspaper=The Telegraph (India) |date=7 June 2022 |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/right-wing-ecosystem-turns-on-bjp-for-suspending-nupur-sharma/cid/1868699}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 23:16, 11 June 2022

Nupur Sharma
National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
2020–2022
PresidentJ. P. Nadda
Personal details
Born (1985-04-23) 23 April 1985 (age 39)
New Delhi, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party (2005–2022)
Education
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • Politician

Nupur Sharma (born 23 April 1985) is an Indian politician and lawyer. She was the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until June 2022.[1] Described as brash and articulate,[by whom?] she frequently represented BJP on Indian television debates as an official spokeswoman.[2] In June 2022, she was suspended from the party due to controversial comments about the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the age of his third wife, Aisha, at the time of their marriage and the consummation of the marriage.[3][4][5]

Early life and education

Nupur Sharma was born in New Delhi in 1985.[6] She comes from a family of civil servants and businessmen.[7] Her mother is from Dehradun.[8]

Sharma studied in the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. Later she graduated from the Hindu College at Delhi University with at Bachelor of Arts in economics and she later completed her Bachelor of Laws at Delhi University.[9][10][7]

While a student, she joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar. She won the presidentship of the Delhi University Students Union in 2008, breaking an eight-year-long dry spell for the ABVP.[7] A notable incident during her stint was the leading of an ABVP mob to heckle S. A. R. Geelani in a faculty seminar on 'Communalism, Fascism and Democracy: Rhetoric and Reality'. She appeared on a television show later that night and gave brash responses.[7][11][1]

After receiving a Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics at the University of London, Sharma became a lawyer.[12]

Political career

Sharma became a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after returning from London in 2010–2011.[2][7] In 2013, she became a member of the Delhi BJP's working committee.[7] She is said to have worked with senior leaders like Arvind Pradhan, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah. In 2015, at age 30, she was given the ticket for contesting against Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.[8][13][14] She lost the contest by 31,000 votes.[15]

Afterwards, she was appointed as an official spokesperson for the BJP's Delhi unit under Manoj Tiwari. In 2020, she was appointed as a national spokesperson of BJP under the presidentship of J. P. Nadda. According to a Delhi BJP leader, even when she was part of the Delhi unit, she was often sent out for TV debates on national issues because of her legal acumen, sound knowledge of national issues, and bilingual skills.[1] She was seen as young, energetic and brash, with regular appearances on television debates.[11][2] She is recorded to have made several insulting comments on opposing panellists, causing outrage on twitter.[2][7][16]

In 2017, she was booked by the Kolkata Police for sharing a photo from the 2002 Gujarat riots and allegedly passing it off as one depicting violence in West Bengal.[7]

Comments about Muhammad

Main article: 2022 BJP Muhammad remarks controversy

On 26 May 2022, Sharma participated in a debate on the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute on the Times Now television channel, during which she made controversial remarks regarding the age of Muhammad's wife Aisha at the time of their marriage and consummation of the marriage,[17][3][4][5] which were seen to be insulting by several Muslim nations.[18] The video clip of her comments were shared by Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, a fact-checking website, on social media.[19][20] Sharma later alleged that it was a "heavily edited and selected video", which was denied by Alt News, and included a longer clip to show the context.[17][21] After the incident drew criticism, Times Now deleted the video of the programme from its YouTube channel the following day.[22] Sharma subsequently stated that she started receiving rape and death threats and Zubair responsible. Alt News denied any responsibility for the reaction from the viewers after watching the video clip.[17][21][23] Later Delhi police provided security cover to Sharma.[24]

A police FIR (First Information Report) was registered against Sharma in Mumbai's Pydhonie police station the next day in which she was accused of "hurting religious sentiments".[25][26] A series of FIRs were registered in various towns around the country including one by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad, for Sharma's use of "abusive, false and hurtful" words against Muhammad and Islam.[21] A bandh (shut down) was called by a Muslim organisation in Kanpur to protest the remarks on 3 June, during which violence erupted with 40 people getting injured.[27]

Sharma's comments were also widely shared internationally on social media. By 4 June, "insult to Prophet Mohammed" was trending among the top 10 hashtags in all the countries of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Turkey.[28] The Grand Mufti of Oman described the remarks as "insolent and obscene rudeness" and characterised it as war against every Muslim. He called for a boycott of all Indian products and confiscation of all Indian investments in Oman.[28][29] The Government of Qatar summoned the Indian ambassador and asked for immediate condemnation and an apology for the remarks. The ambassador was reported to have replied that they were views of "fringe elements" in India and in no way reflected the views of the Government of India.[30] Kuwait and Iran have also summoned the Indian envoys and gave them protest notes.[31][32]

On 5 June, Sharma was suspended from the BJP. The party statement said, "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion."[32] Afterwards, Sharma said that she was "unconditionally" withdrawing her remarks, but also made an attempt to justify them claiming that they were in response to the "continuous insult and disregard" towards the Hindu deity Shiva.[19][2]

The BJP supporters, including some popular politicians, rallied behind Nupur Sharma and criticised the party and the government for buckling under international pressure. Hashtags such as "#ShameOnBJP" and "#ISupportNupurSharma" started trending on Twitter.[18][2][33]

References

  1. ^ a b c Abhinav Rajput (5 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The BJP firebrand facing party axe", The Indian Express, archived from the original on 6 June 2022, retrieved 6 June 2022
  2. ^ a b c d e f Geeta Pandey (7 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The Indian woman behind offensive Prophet Muhammad comments", BBC News, archived from the original on 7 June 2022, retrieved 7 June 2022
  3. ^ a b "After 'respect all religions' statement, BJP suspends spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal", The Indian Express, 5 June 2022, archived from the original on 7 June 2022, retrieved 6 June 2022
  4. ^ a b "Nupur Sharma suspended from BJP for her comments about Prophet Muhammad", Scroll.in, archived from the original on 6 June 2022, retrieved 6 June 2022
  5. ^ a b Nabeela Jamil (6 June 2022), "Why the debate around the age of Aisha, the Prophet's wife, is irrelevant", Scroll.in, archived from the original on 7 June 2022, retrieved 7 June 2022
  6. ^ "Nupur Sharma: Biography", OneIndia, archived from the original on 23 April 2021, retrieved 6 June 2022[better source needed]
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Unnati Sharma (6 June 2022), "Who is Nupur Sharma? DUSU ex-president & LSE alum now suspended by BJP for remarks on Prophet", The Print, archived from the original on 8 June 2022, retrieved 8 June 2022
  8. ^ a b "Kejriwal rival Nupur Sharma has Dehradun roots", Dehradun Post, 29 January 2015, ProQuest 1648819349
  9. ^ "Who is Nupur Sharma". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Who is Nupur Sharma". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Nupur Sharma: impressive past, promising future", BusinessLine, 20 January 2015, ProQuest 1646892572, archived from the original on 7 June 2022, retrieved 6 June 2022
  12. ^ "Nupur Sharma, suspended Spokesperson of BJP, did her Master in Law from this UK University", The Free Press Journal, 5 June 2022, archived from the original on 5 June 2022, retrieved 5 June 2022
  13. ^ Amita Shah (21 January 2015), "At 30, will Nupur Sharma be a giant killer?: BJP has fielded former DU student leader Nupur Sharma against AAP chief Kejriwal from New Delhi seat", Daily News & Analysis, ProQuest 1646878018
  14. ^ "Meet BJP's New Delhi candidate Nupur Sharma: The girl who plans to take on Kejriwal". Firstpost. 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Arvind Kejriwal defeats BJP's Nupur Sharma by over 31,000 votes". Livemint. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  16. ^ "BJP leader Nupur Sharma called out for profanity on Arnab Goswami's show". Free Press Journal. 27 July 2020. Archived from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  17. ^ a b c "FIR filed against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for comments about Prophet Mohammad", Scroll.in, 29 May 2022, archived from the original on 5 June 2022, retrieved 5 June 2022
  18. ^ a b Sheikh Saaliq (AP) (6 June 2022), "Muslim nations slam India over insulting remarks about Islam", The Washington Post, archived from the original on 8 June 2022, retrieved 7 June 2022
  19. ^ a b Stuti Mishra (6 June 2022). "Prophet Muhammad comments by officials from India's ruling party spark Gulf backlash". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Mohammed Zubair's Tweet". Twitter. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "'Remarks on Prophet': After Thane, Hyderabad Police Files FIR Against BJP's Nupur Sharma", The Wire, 1 June 2022, archived from the original on 5 June 2022, retrieved 5 June 2022
  22. ^ "Times Now deletes video of Navika Kumar's debate, issues clarification amidst controversy over derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)". Janta Ka Reporter 2.0. 28 May 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  23. ^ Pratik Sinha, twitter thread Archived 5 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine, 28 May 2022.
  24. ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma, Suspended, Gets Security After Death Threat Complaint". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  25. ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma booked over remark on Prophet Muhammad", The Free press Journal, 29 May 2022, ProQuest 2671096342
  26. ^ "Mumbai police book BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for remarks on Prophet", The Indian Express, 29 May 2022, ProQuest 2670791553
  27. ^ Kanpur Violence: At Least 40 Injured, Police Register 3 FIRs Against 500 People Archived 7 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine, The Wire, 4 June 2022.
  28. ^ a b "Remarks against Prophet Mohammed: Did West Asia social media outrage force BJP to take action?", The Tribune (Chandigarh), 5 June 2022, archived from the original on 5 June 2022, retrieved 5 June 2022
  29. ^ Helen Regan (10 June 2022), "India is facing a firestorm over ruling party officials' comments about Islam. Here's what you need to know", CNN
  30. ^ ""Fringe Elements": India Dismisses BJP Leaders' Remarks On Prophet", NDTV, 6 June 2022, archived from the original on 5 June 2022, retrieved 5 June 2022
  31. ^ "Qatar, Kuwait, Iran Summon Indian Envoys Over BJP Leaders' Remarks on Prophet Mohammed", The Wire, 6 June 2022, archived from the original on 5 June 2022, retrieved 5 June 2022
  32. ^ a b Hannah Ellis-Petersen (6 June 2022), "Prophet Muhammad remarks embroil India in row with Gulf states", The Guardian, archived from the original on 7 June 2022, retrieved 7 June 2022
  33. ^ "Right-wing ecosystem turns on BJP for suspending Nupur Sharma", The Telegraph (India), 7 June 2022
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