Prime Minister Narendra Modi should step in and stop the poison of hatred among religious communities, actor Naseeruddin Shah said on Wednesday, according to NDTV.
In an interview to the news channel, the actor made the comment while speaking about the furore on derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad made by suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma during a debate on Times Now television channel on May 26.
Twenty countries and organisations of Muslim-dominated nations have condemned the remarks. Social media users in some of these countries also called for a boycott of Indian products.
On Wednesday, Shah said that Modi follows several “hatemongers” on Twitter and urged him to take action to rein them in.
“He has to do something,” the actor said. “He needs to step in to prevent the poison from growing.”
Shah also questioned India’s claim that the derogatory comments had been made by “fringe elements” and did not reflect the views of the Union government. Indian envoys in Qatar and Kuwait had made the statement after being summoned by authorities in the West Asian nations.
“She [Sharma] is a national spokesperson [of the BJP],” Shah pointed out.
The BJP suspended Sharma on June 5 amid growing international criticism of her remarks.
Shah also said that Modi should clarify his stand on inflammatory remarks made at the religious conclave held at Haridwar between December 17 and December 19. At the event, Hindutva supremacists had called for genocide against Muslims.
“I would appeal to the PM to knock some good sense into these people,” Shah told NDTV on Wednesday. “If what he believes is what was said at the dharam sansad [religious conclave], he should say so and if not, he should say so.”
Official response not enough, says Hamid Ansari
Meanwhile, former Vice President Hamid Ansari said that the backlash from Muslim-dominated countries to Sharma’s remark should have been dealt with “at an appropriate political level”, NDTV reported.
Ansari, who is also a former diplomat, said that it was not enough for embassies and official spokespersons to issue statements and clarifications.
“The prime minister could have diffused the issue but no one thought it fit to do this at an appropriate time,” he said.
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