Amid massive protests by Muslims all across the country demanding arrest of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her comments on Prophet Mohammed on a TV debate, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has issued an appeal to Islamic scholars and clerics to refrain from appearing in such shows.
In an appeal published today, the AIMPLB has said that the officials of the board have issued a joint statement with this appeal. The statement says that Muslim clerics and Islamic intellectuals should not appear in arguments and debates on those TV channels whose only objective is to make fun of Muslims and insulting them.
AIMPLB says that by participating in the programs, the Muslim leaders are not able to do any service of Muslims and Islam, instead they indirectly insult and mock Muslims and Islam.
ऑल इंडिया मुस्लिम पर्सनल लॉ बोर्ड ने उलमा और तमाम मुस्लिमों से टीवी डिबेट में भाग नही लेने की अपील की। बहुत सही अपील pic.twitter.com/7NCQOIIbuk
— Narendra nath mishra (@iamnarendranath) June 10, 2022
The statement said, ‘The objective these programs are not to arrive at any conclusion based on constructive discussions, but to insult Islam and Muslims and defame them. These channels want to include one Muslim face in the debates to prove their neutrality. Our clerics and intellectuals become victim of such conspiracies unknowingly. If we boycott these programs and channels, then not only their TRP will reduce but they will also badly fail in their objectives’.
According to the statement, AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani informed that the appeal has been issued jointly by board president Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadwi, vice president Jalaluddin Umri and several others.
It is notable that after suspending Nupur Sharma, BJP has also guidelines for its spokespersons and leaders who appear in TV debates. Reportedly, the party has asked them to not comment against any religion, religious heads, worshipers, and religious symbols. The party has also asked them to use restrained language, and not get agitated. They are not to violate party’s ideology even if provoked by the anchors or other panellists.
All this started when a debate on discovery of Shivling at Gyanvapi mosque on Times Now, objecting to insult of Shivling and Hinduism by Muslims on social media, Nupur Sharma had questioned what if Hindus also start quoting uncomfortable facts of Prophet Mohammed from Islam texts.
While this went unnoticed initially, as English News channels have very low viewership, the clip went viral after Islamist propagandist and cofounder of Alt News, Md Zubair posted it on Twitter, inviting his troll army to attack Nupur Sharma. However, what happened after that was probably not even anticipated by Zubair also, as the matter was amplified several radical Muslims, who tagged influencers and media houses from Gulf countries demanding action against the BJP leaders.
Things escalated quickly in the last few days, with BJP distancing from the comments and suspending Nupur Sharma, and soon after that, several Islamic countries issued statements condemning her remarks and demanded apology from the govt. Along with that, Muslims has started to protest demanding her beheading and arrest. The first violent protests took place in Kanpur on last Friday after the Jumma prayers, and today the protests and violence spread to dozens of cities after the weekly namaaz.
