Dr Nishant A.Irudayadason
Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune.

From the Gulf monarchies to Indonesia to Pakistan, which never misses an opportunity to pin its southern neighbour, the Times of India notes, New Delhi is scolded by the Muslim world. And this since two spokesmen of BJP, the ruling party, Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar made public statements questioning the young age of the Prophet Muhammad’s third wife. This uncalled-for comment was made in the context of a controversial claim that a mosque is built of an ancient Hindu temple. Already in 1996, after the destruction of Babri-Masjid that no such legal claims can henceforth be made by any religion on the place of worship of another religion and despite this the fact that the court has accepted a petition of dispute is a step in a wrong direction. Such polemics seem to be on the increase in India which adds fuel to the fire of religious tensions. One cannot but wonder if such polemics are patronised by the ruling dispensation to win elections.
Though the two spokesmen have been sanctioned by their party, the anger of Muslim countries does not subside. Indian ambassadors in these countries are summoned to be lectured on the unacceptable attacks on religious freedom and anti-Muslim hate speech that would be promoted by the power embodied by Narendra Modi. Anti-Indian protests are organized in Pakistan; and this Wednesday, June 8, we read on the website of the daily The Hindu, that the branch of Al-Qaeda, in the Indian subcontinent, enters the fray and threatens to strike India with suicide attacks to avenge the honour of the prophet.
The Indian journalist Rana Ayyub in the opinion pages of the Washington Post welcomes the viral reactions of the Muslim countries. According to her, the world is finally reacting to the slow descent, observed for years, of Narendra Modi’s India into a climate of Hindu nationalism and Islamophobic hatred. Since Modi came to power in 2014, the ruling party’s attacks on India’s 200 million Muslims have been relentless, writes Rana Ayyub. All aspects of life, customs and culture of these Muslims are gradually being attacked by new laws that restrict their freedom of worship with an intent to humiliate and oppress these tens of millions of Indians who also constitute, very often, the poorest categories of the Indian population.
This international outcry against India poses a serious diplomatic challenge to Narendra Modi. India cannot afford to permanently offend the Gulf monarchies in particular, notes the Indian Express. India is not only dependent on oil imported from the Arabian Peninsula, but also on the money returned to the country by the six and a half million Indian emigrants who live and work in this region of the world. For them, this case is a real “national shame”, says the daily The Tribune. At least, this international outcry against India poses a serious diplomatic challenge to Narendra Modi, with the fear, too, that reprisals will put these Indians in difficulty on Muslim soil. Moreover, what has prompted the BJP leaders to disavow their spokesmen are the threats to boycott Indian products in the Gulf countries.
All this controversy must at least serve one thing, says Sima Chishti continues on the website The Wire: to shatter the doublespeak that Narendra Modi has been practicing for years on the international scene. Double face of a leader who claims abroad the teachings of Gandhi and peaceful multiculturalism, but who at home allows proliferate, even stirs up, anti-Islam hate speech that too often leads to murderous acts of violence. The Journalist of The Wire wants to believe that the economic and diplomatic threats, the fact that the United States has also recently issued criticisms on the attacks on religious freedom in India are beginning to change the mentalities in the entourage of the Prime Minister and in his party.