Prophet row: China says issue can be 'properly resolved'

Beijing, Jun 14: Wading into the diplomatic firestorm over the remarks made by suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma, China's Foreign Ministry on Monday said it hoped the "relevant incident can be properly managed".

During the daily briefing on Monday, a journalist asked the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin to comment on the "outrage in the Muslim world and Islamic nations" caused by the comments of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

To which, Wang Wenbin said,''We have noted relevant reports and hope that the situation will be appropriately resolved. China always believes that different civilizations and religions should respect each other and live together as equals. It is always important to discard pride and prejudice, better understand the differences between one's own civilization and other civilizations, and promote exchanges, dialogue and harmonious coexistence between civilizations.''

The BJP on June 5 suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their controversial remarks against the Prophet.

The Muslims countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Oman, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Jordan, Libya and Bahrain have condemned the remarks.

Many Muslim countries' foreign offices also summoned the Indian envoys to register their protest besides issuing strongly worded statements. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also issued a strongly worded statement against blasphemous remarks by Indian leaders.

In a statement, Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said that massive Muslim demonstrations across India, demanding arrest and punishment of the two members of BJP for using blasphemous remarks reflected not only the aspirations of the vast Muslim community in India, but also the aspirations of the entire Muslim world. He added that Indian authorities should respond positively.

However, the Indian authorities have resorted to brutal measures against the unarmed protesting Muslims and used the security forces to suppress them.The international community should pay close attention to the atrocities committed by the Indian authorities and strongly condemn the disproportional use of security forces on Indian Muslim protesters, he added.

He said that India should immediately shun its Hindutva policies and stop targeting its minorities, hurting their religious sentiments and put an end to rising incidents of violence and spreading of hate against Indian minorities, especially Muslims. Otherwise, the worsening ethnic contradictions and religious conflicts in India will lead to the final division of the country, he added.