Nupur Sharma

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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)[1]
New Delhi, India[2]
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party (2005-2022)
Alma materUniversity of Delhi (BA, LL.B.)
London School of Economics, University of London (LL.M.)
OccupationLawyer, 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,[3] when she was suspended from the party due to her comments about the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[4][5]

Biography

Nupur Sharma was born in Delhi in 1985.[2][1] She comes from an educated family, many of whose members are civil servants. Her mother is from Dehradun.[6]

Sharma joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar, as a student of Delhi University. She won the presidentship of the students union in 2008. 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][3] 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.[1]

After receiving a Master of Laws degree at the London School of Economics, Sharma became a lawyer.[8]

She also became a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and 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 Admi Party (AAP) in the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.[6][9][10] She lost the contest by 31,000 votes.[11]

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.[3] She was seen as young, energetic and brash, with regular appearances on television debates.[7]

Comments on Prophet Muhammad

Main article: 2022 BJP Muhammad remarks controversy

On 27 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 Muhammad and the age of one of his wives, Aisha, noting that Aisha was 6-years-old when married, and 9 when the marriage was consummated.[12] In the past the marriage of Muhammad with Aisha was a subject to wide debate and sharp criticism[13][14], the comment that Sharma made was in reference to one of the authentic Hadith Shahih Al-Bukhari 5134[15] [16]

The Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair shared a video clip of her remarks on social media. Sharma later alleged that it was a "heavily edited and selected video", which was denied by Pratik Sinha, the other co-founder of Alt News. Sinha stated that it was unedited and also included a longer clip which showed the context.[17][18] Times Now deleted the video of the programme from its Youtube channel the next day.[19]

Sharma stated that she had started receiving rape and death threats. She appeared to hold Zubair responsible for the threats. Alt News denied any responsibility for the reaction from the viewers after watching the video clip.[17][18][20]

A police FIR (First Information Report) was registered against Sharma in Mumbai (Pydhonie Police Station) on the next day. She was accused of "hurting religious sentiments".[21][22] A second FIR was registered in Thane (a suburb of Mumbai) on 30 May on the same grounds.[23] Another FIR was registered by the AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad, for using “abusive, false and hurtful” words against the Prophet Muhammad and the Islam religion.[18] Several other FIRs were registered at other locations in the country.

Reaction

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.[24]

The Grand Mufti of Oman called the remarks "insolent and obscene rudeness" by the official spokesperson of BJP and characterized it as war against every Muslim. He called for a boycott of all Indian products and confiscation of all Indian investments in Oman.[24] The Government of Qatar summoned the Indian ambassador and asked for immediate condemnation and an apology for the remarks. The ambassador is reported to have replied that these were the views of "fringe elements" in India and in no way reflect the views of the Government of India.[25] Kuwait and Iran have also summoned the Indian envoys and gave them protest notes.[26]

On June 5, Sharma published an apology on Twitter but was suspended from the BJP, while Naveen Kumar Jindal was expelled from the party.[27]

Response from Government of India

On June 6, the Ministry of External Affairs called out the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’s “motivated, misleading, and mischievous” comments on India. Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi while replying to media queries on the General Secretary of OIC’s statement said that the Government of India categorically rejected OIC Secretariat’s comments. The government of India categorically rejects OIC Secretariat’s unwarranted and narrow-minded comments. The Government of India accords the highest respect to all religions. “The offensive tweets and comments denigrating a religious personality were made by certain individuals. They do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. Strong action has already been taken against these individuals by relevant bodies”, the statement added.[28][29][30][31]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Who is Nupur Sharma". Business Standard. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Nupur Sharma: Biography", OneIndia, retrieved 6 June 2022
  3. ^ a b c Abhinav Rajput (5 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The BJP firebrand facing party axe", The Indian Express
  4. ^ "After 'respect all religions' statement, BJP suspends spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal", The Indian Express, 5 June 2022
  5. ^ "Nupur Sharma suspended from BJP for her comments about Prophet Muhammad", Scroll.in, retrieved 6 June 2022
  6. ^ a b "Kejriwal rival Nupur Sharma has Dehradun roots", Dehradun Post, 29 January 2015, ProQuest 1648819349
  7. ^ a b "Nupur Sharma: impressive past, promising future". Business Line. New Delhi. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022. Combative, ambitious and action-oriented — meet Nupur Sharma, the BJP's candidate against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
  8. ^ "Nupur Sharma, suspended Spokesperson of BJP, did her Master in Law from this UK University", The Free Press Journal, 5 June 2022
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ "Meet BJP's New Delhi candidate Nupur Sharma: The girl who plans to take on Kejriwal". Firstpost. 21 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Arvind Kejriwal defeats BJP's Nupur Sharma by over 31,000 votes". Livemint. 10 February 2015.
  12. ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma booked over remark on Prophet Mohammed". The Siasat Daily. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  13. ^ Collins, Christopher (1 November 2010). Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American Culture. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0-271-04724-9.
  14. ^ "Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis - The Washington Post". web.archive.org. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Sahih al-Bukhari 5134 - Wedlock, Marriage (Nikaah) - كتاب النكاح - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)". sunnah.com. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  16. ^ Spellberg, Denise A. Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr (1994 ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 9780231079990.
  17. ^ a b "FIR filed against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for comments about Prophet Mohammad", Scroll.in, 29 May 2022
  18. ^ a b c "'Remarks on Prophet': After Thane, Hyderabad Police Files FIR Against BJP's Nupur Sharma", The Wire, 1 June 2022
  19. ^ "Times Now deletes video of Navika Kuamr's debate, issues clarification amidst controversy over derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)". Janta Ka Reporter 2.0. 28 May 2022.
  20. ^ Pratik Sinha, twitter thread, 28 May 2022.
  21. ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma booked over remark on Prophet Muhammad", The Free press Journal, 29 May 2022, ProQuest 2671096342
  22. ^ "Mumbai police book BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for remarks on Prophet", The Indian Express, 29 May 2022, ProQuest 2670791553
  23. ^ "Maharashtra: Second FIR against BJP spokesperson over comments on Prophet Mohammed", The Indian Express, 31 May 2022
  24. ^ a b "Remarks against Prophet Mohammed: Did West Asia social media outrage force BJP to take action?", The Tribune (Chandigarh), 5 June 2022
  25. ^ ""Fringe Elements": India Dismisses BJP Leaders' Remarks On Prophet", NDTV News, 6 June 2022
  26. ^ "Qatar, Kuwait, Iran Summon Indian Envoys Over BJP Leaders' Remarks on Prophet Mohammed", The Wire, 6 June 2022
  27. ^ "India's ruling party suspends official over comments about Islam", CNN, 6 June 2022
  28. ^ ""Narrow-Minded": India's Reply To Islamic Nations' Group Amid Gulf Fury". NDTV.com. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  29. ^ "India rejects OIC's 'unwarranted & narrow-minded' comments: MEA". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  30. ^ "India rejects OIC's comments over controversial remarks against Prophet". The Hindu. PTI. 6 June 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 June 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  31. ^ DelhiJune 6, india today digital New; June 6, 2022UPDATED:; Ist, 2022 13:42. "'Narrow-minded': India's response to Islamic nations' group after row over BJP leader's Prophet remarks". India Today. Retrieved 7 June 2022. {{cite web}}: |first3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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