BJP suspends Nupur Sharma over remarks on Prophet Muhammad

The BJP on Sunday suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma and its leader Naveen Jindal from the party's primary membership after their alleged controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad.

The news broke only hours after the party published a statement attempting to defuse the controversy surrounding Nupur Sharma's alleged anti-Muslim remarks.

The BJP asserted that it respects all religions and strongly denounces insult of any religious personality. Party general secretary Arun Singh said in a statement that the party is strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion.

The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy, he said.

The BJP statement, however, made no direct mention of any incident or comment.

Sharma's remarks have drawn protests from Muslim groups.

Singh said, "During the thousands of years of history of India every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions. The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion."

India's Constitution gives right to every citizen to practice any religion of his or her choice and to honour and respect every religion, he said.

"As India celebrates 75th year of its Independence, we are committed to making India a great country where all are equal and everyone lives with dignity, where all are committed to India's unity and integrity, where all enjoy the fruits of growth and development," the BJP leader said.

Earlier on Saturday, Jindal tweeted, “We respect the faith of all religions but the question was only from those mindsets who spread hatred by using indecent comments on our deities. I just asked him a question. It does not mean that we are against any religion.