Muslim groups in Indonesia are calling for India to be careful and to not condone Islamophobia while urging interfaith dialogue amid the recent controversy over offhand remarks by members of India’s ruling party that appeared to target Islam.
Earlier this week, Indonesia joined the chorus of Muslim majority countries condemning politicians from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) whose remarks were deemed to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
BJP national spokesperson Nupur Sharma reportedly made the controversial remarks during a recently televised debate.
Separately, the BJP’s chief spokesperson Naveen Kumar Jindal also reportedly uploaded a social media post about Islam that was later deleted.
Muhammadiyah secretary-general Abdul Mu’ti said Indonesia’s second largest Muslim organisation lauded the government for condemning the two BJP politicians’ derogatory remarks about Islam.
However, it also urged that significant steps be taken at the international level.
“The statements by the two BJP politicians are against the anti- Islamophobia declaration endorsed by the United Nations,” Mu’ti said.
Mu’ti went on to say that India should not condone Islamophobia and urged the ruling regime take significant steps to prevent “primordial actions” that could lead to further divisions.
Meanwhile, Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf called the BJP politicians’ moves “improper” and that the party should be held responsible.
He underlined that any group could become either victims or perpetrators of intolerance at different points in the history of interfaith relations.
The Indonesian Ulema Council released a statement, saying that BJP should be focusing on finding solutions instead of creating conflicts that fuelled hate against Islam. — The Jakarta Post/ANN