A number of countries in the Arab world have lodged a strong protest against disparaging remarks made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders against Prophet Mohammed. Huge protests have taken place across India demanding criminal prosecution and arrest of now-axed BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal.
Police across the BJP-ruled states have also cracked down on those protesting against the questionable remarks. Several houses linked to such protestors in Uttar Pradesh have been brought down by bulldozers after law enforcement agencies claimed that they were “illegal constructions.”
Authorities in UP’s Prayagraj also demolished the home of Javed Mohammad, a leader of the Welfare Party of India and father of activist Afreen Fatima, on Sunday, June 12. Police named Javed the “mastermind” of the June 10 protests that took place in Prayagraj.
Siddharth Varadarajan, a founding editor of The Wire, discusses these issues with professor Apoorvanand of Delhi University.