The United Nations has called for a halt to violence based on religious differences and hatred in India where Muslims protesting against derogatory remarks by the ruling party leaders about Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) are being attacked.
In response to a question about U.N’s stand on the escalating violence against Muslim, the UN Secretary-General’s Spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said United Nations opposes any hate speech, incitement or violence and stresses full respect of any religion.
The derogatory references to Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party has generated a huge diplomatic outrage, with several Muslim countries, including Pakistan, lodging official protests against India.
Anger has poured out on social media, and calls for a boycott of Indian goods have surfaced in some Islamic nations.
According to a report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his call to stop any violence stemming from religious differences in India.
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His Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday that Guterres “is for the full respect of religion, for calling against any sort of hate speech or incitement and, of course, a halt to any sort of violence, especially one based on perceived religious differences and hatred.”
He was replying to a journalist’s question at his daily briefing on “the high tension” in India following the controversial statements about the Muslim Prophet Mohammed by two former BJP officials.
Nupur Sharma, who was a BJP spokesperson, has been suspended by the party’s leadership, and the party’s Delhi unit media head Naveen Jindal has been expelled.
Police in several cities have registered cases against Sharma charging her with “hurting religious sentiments”.
