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Rahul Gandhi amid Prophet remarks controversy: 'Time to unite India'
Prophet comment controversy: The comments by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal have led to objections in several West Asian nations.
It is time to unite India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday night amid a controversy over the remarks by former BJP spokespersons- Naveen Jindal and Nupur Sharma - against Prophet Mohammed and his wife. The comments have prompted official notes from four nations with Saudi Arabia latest in the list to join Iran, Qatar and Kuwait. "Hate only breeds hatred. Only the path of love and brotherhood can take India towards progress. It is time to unite India (sic)," Gandhi, 51, tweeted with the #BharatJodo (unite India).
The grand old party is planning to take out a Kashmir to Kanyakumari yatra from October 2 with an eye on the 2024 national elections. The details were revealed after the Congress's mega conclave in Udaipur with a focus on restructuring the party amid calls for revamp. The party has faced several poll debacles over the years after defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi's post came after India responded to assuage concerns of Kuwait, Iran and Qatar. On Sunday afternoon, the BJP said it has suspended Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Jindal. “The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy…During the thousands of years of the history of India every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions,” it said in a statement.
Nupur Sharma's comments had come in the backdrop of the Gyanvapi mosque dispute in Varanasi. Both the leaders have apologised over the comments.
But the Congress made a relentless attack on the BJP amid the controversy. “The truth is that BJP has pushed India into a dark age of religious polarisation to subserve its parochial political agenda in the short term,” party spokersperson Randeep Surjewala said in a statement.
“The placatory expulsion of two key members and spokespersons of the BJP from its primary membership, done obviously under duress of threats from external powers, exposes the much touted ‘muscular posturing’ and positioning of the BJP and the Modi government,” he added.
