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Muslim groups caution India over Islamophobia, call for interfaith dialogue
Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama have called for a multinational, multifaith dialogue in response to controversial remarks by politicians from India's ruling party that have garnered condemnation from Muslims around the world.
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A person holds up a handmade poster while attending a gathering on June 10, 2022 at Tehran University to protest remarks about the Prophet Muhammad made by a top official of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (AFP/AFP)
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span style="background-color:#FFFFFF;">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 ational 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 that Indonesia’s second largest Muslim organization 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 told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Earlier this year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, calling for efforts to promote a culture of tolerance and peace based on respect for human rights and diversity of religions and beliefs.
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.
