Nupur Sharma

For OpIndia's Nupur J Sharma, see OpIndia.

Nupur Sharma
National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
2020–2022
PresidentJ. P. Nadda
Personal details
Born (1985-04-23) 23 April 1985 (age 39)
New Delhi, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party (2005–2022)
Education
Occupation
  • Politician

Nupur Sharma (born 23 April 1985) is an Indian politician. She was the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until June 2022.[1] She frequently represented BJP on Indian television debates as an official spokesperson.[2][3] In June 2022, she was suspended from the party due to her comments about Muhammad and the age of his third wife, Aisha, at the time of their marriage and the consummation of the marriage as well her comments on other central doctrines in the Islamic tradition.[4][5][6]

Early life and education

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Nupur Sharma was born in New Delhi in 1985.[7] She comes from a family of civil servants and businessmen.[8] Her mother is from Dehradun.[9]

Sharma studied in the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. Later she graduated from the Hindu College at Delhi University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She later completed her Bachelor of Laws at Delhi University.[10][8] While a student, she had joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar, and won the presidency of the Delhi University Students Union in 2008, breaking an eight-year-long dry spell for the ABVP.[8] A notable incident during her stint was the leading of an ABVP mob to heckle S. A. R. Geelani in a faculty seminar on 'Communalism, Fascism and Democracy: Rhetoric and Reality'. After receiving a Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics at the University of London, Sharma became a lawyer.[11]

Political career

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Sharma became a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after returning from London in 2010–2011.[12][8] In 2013, she became a member of the Delhi BJP's working committee.[8] She is said to have worked with senior leaders like Arvind Pradhan, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah. In 2015, at age 30, she was given the ticket for contesting against Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.[9][13][14] She lost the contest by 31,000 votes.[15]

Afterwards, she was appointed as an official spokesperson for the BJP's Delhi unit under Manoj Tiwari. In 2020, she was appointed as a national spokesperson of BJP under the presidency of J. P. Nadda. According to a Delhi BJP leader, even when she was part of the Delhi unit, she was often sent out for TV debates on national issues because of her legal acumen, sound knowledge of national issues, and bilingual skills.[1] She was seen as young and energetic, with regular appearances on television debates.[16][12] She is often seen being brusque to opposing panellists, causing outrage on Twitter.[12][8][17]

Other activities

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Comments about Muhammad

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Main article: 2022 Muhammad remarks controversy
See also: Criticism of Muhammad § Aisha

On 26 May 2022, Sharma participated in a debate on the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute on the Times Now television channel, during which she made remarks regarding the age of Muhammad's wife Aisha at the time of their marriage and consummation of the marriage. Her remarks were triggered by comments from Taslim Rehmani, the Chief of MPCI (Muslim Political Council of India) who made derogatory comments on Shivling, the revered symbol of Lord Shiva.[18][4][5][6] A day later, the video clip of her comments were edited and shared by Mohammed Zubair, who the co-founder of Alt News, on social media to widespread criticism.[19][20] Times Now deleted the video of the programme from its YouTube channel the following day.[21] Nonetheless, Sharma defended her comments and accused Zubair of heavily editing the original clip. Following this, she began receiving rape and death threats, prompting the Delhi Police to provide her with a security cover.[18][22][23] Journalists note that Sharma has made similar comments on several TV shows.[24]

A police FIR (First Information Report) was registered against Sharma in Mumbai the next day on the grounds of allegedly "hurting religious sentiments".[25][26] A series of FIRs followed in various towns around the country including one by parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad.[22] A bandh (shut down) was called by a Muslim organisation in Kanpur to protest the remarks on 3 June, during which violence erupted with 40 people getting injured.[27] And a Hindu named Kanhaiya Lal was murdered by 2 Islamic extremists in Rajasthan for supporting Nupur Sharma, this incidence was recorded by the Extremists and shared on social media with showing how happy they were to it. In the meanwhile, Sharma's comments continued to be shared on social media especially in the Arab world. By 4 June, "insult to Prophet Mohammed" was among the top 10 trending hashtags in all the countries of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Turkey.[28]

On 5 June, the Grand Mufti of Oman became the first significant figure from outside India to take issue with Sharma. Describing the remarks as "insolent and obscene rudeness", he called for a boycott of all Indian products and confiscation of all Indian investments in Oman.[28][29] The Government of Qatar summoned the Indian ambassador and asked for an immediate condemnation and apology; The ambassador remarked Sharma to be a "fringe element" who did not reflect the views of the Government of India.[30] The same day, Kuwait and Iran had the Indian envoys summoned and gave them protest notes.[31][32][a]

By the evening of 5 June, Sharma was suspended from the BJP. The party statement said, "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion."[34][32][b] Afterwards, Sharma withdrew her remarks "unconditionally". However, reiterated that they were in response to the "continuous insult and disregard" towards the Hindu deity Lord Shiva, who was often insulted by other panellists.[19][12] Many BJP supporters, including some BJP politicians, rallied behind her and criticised the party and the government for abandoning her and buckling under international pressure. Hashtags such as "#ISupportNupurSharma" and "#ShameOnBJP" trended on Twitter.[35][36][37][38]

In June, a police team of Mumbai Police that had come to Delhi to question Sharma, was unable to find her despite camping for 5 days.[39] On 20 June, in an email, she requested for a four-week extension to appear before the Kolkata Police due to threats against her life, after a complaint was lodged against her at the Narkeldanga police station.[40]

In January 2023, she received a gun licence following the death threats received after her remarks.[41]

The Indian Supreme Court refused to consolidate multiple FIRs filed in several states against Nupur Sharma, a decision that Supreme Court lawyers Indira Jaising and Ashish Goel criticised as going against "long-standing judicial precedents and standards of prudence and predictability in the administration of the criminal justice system."[42]

Comments on Bahraich violence

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See also: 2024 Bahraich violence

In October 2024, Sharma claimed at a Brahmin conference in Bulandshahr that Gopal Mishra was shot "35 times" and was tortured. This claim was found to be false because the police rejected any claims about the torture and encouraged the citizens not to spread disinformation about the incident. She later retracted her statement and tendered apology.[43]

Notes

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  1. ^ Other Muslim nations followed suit on the following days: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, and Indonesia.[33]
  2. ^ Another BJP official of the Delhi unit, Navin Kumar Jindal, was also expelled from the party for similar remarks on social media.[32]

References

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  1. ^ a b Abhinav Rajput (5 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The BJP firebrand facing party axe", The Indian Express
  2. ^ Geeta Pandey (7 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The Indian woman behind offensive Prophet Muhammad comments", BBC News, Brash and articulate, her ability to argue and put forth her point of view in both English and Hindi won her a place in the BJP's media committee for the 2013 Delhi assembly elections.
  3. ^ "Who is Nupur Sharma, whose remarks have caused outrage in the Arab world?", The Times of India, 7 June 2022, In 2020, the BJP appointed her as a national spokesperson. The 37-year-old was often seen on TV debates energetically arguing with her opponents and was often noted for using brash language.
  4. ^ a b "After 'respect all religions' statement, BJP suspends spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal", The Indian Express, 5 June 2022
  5. ^ a b "Nupur Sharma suspended from BJP for her comments about Prophet Muhammad", Scroll.in, 5 June 2022
  6. ^ a b Nabeela Jamil (6 June 2022), "Why the debate around the age of Aisha, the Prophet's wife, is irrelevant", Scroll.in
  7. ^ "Nupur Sharma: Biography", OneIndia, retrieved 6 June 2022[better source needed]
  8. ^ a b c d e f Unnati Sharma (6 June 2022), "Who is Nupur Sharma? DUSU ex-president & LSE alum now suspended by BJP for remarks on Prophet", The Print
  9. ^ a b "Kejriwal rival Nupur Sharma has Dehradun roots", Dehradun Post, 29 January 2015, ProQuest 1648819349
  10. ^ "Who is Nupur Sharma". Business Standard India.
  11. ^ "Nupur Sharma, suspended Spokesperson of BJP, did her Master in Law from this UK University", The Free Press Journal, 5 June 2022
  12. ^ a b c d Geeta Pandey (7 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The Indian woman behind offensive Prophet Muhammad comments", BBC News
  13. ^ Amita Shah (21 January 2015), "At 30, will Nupur Sharma be a giant killer?: BJP has fielded former DU student leader Nupur Sharma against AAP chief Kejriwal from New Delhi seat", Daily News & Analysis, ProQuest 1646878018
  14. ^ "Meet BJP's New Delhi candidate Nupur Sharma: The girl who plans to take on Kejriwal". Firstpost. 21 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Arvind Kejriwal defeats BJP's Nupur Sharma by over 31,000 votes". Livemint. 10 February 2015.
  16. ^ "Nupur Sharma: impressive past, promising future", BusinessLine, 20 January 2015, ProQuest 1646892572
  17. ^ "BJP leader Nupur Sharma called out for profanity on Arnab Goswami's show". Free Press Journal. 27 July 2020.
  18. ^ a b "FIR filed against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for comments about Prophet Mohammad", Scroll.in, 29 May 2022
  19. ^ a b Stuti Mishra (6 June 2022). "Prophet Muhammad comments by officials from India's ruling party spark Gulf backlash". The Independent.
  20. ^ "Mohammed Zubair's Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Times Now deletes video of Navika Kumar's debate, issues clarification amidst controversy over derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)". Janta Ka Reporter 2.0. 28 May 2022.
  22. ^ a b "'Remarks on Prophet': After Thane, Hyderabad Police Files FIR Against BJP's Nupur Sharma", The Wire, 1 June 2022
  23. ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma, Suspended, Gets Security After Death Threat Complaint". NDTV News. 7 June 2022.
  24. ^ Daniyal, Shoaib (13 June 2022). "The India Fix: How will Nupur Sharma's hate speech change Indian politics?". Scroll.in.
  25. ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma booked over remark on Prophet Muhammad", The Free press Journal, 29 May 2022, ProQuest 2671096342
  26. ^ "Mumbai police book BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for remarks on Prophet", The Indian Express, 29 May 2022, ProQuest 2670791553
  27. ^ Kanpur Violence: At Least 40 Injured, Police Register 3 FIRs Against 500 People Archived 7 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine, The Wire, 4 June 2022.
  28. ^ a b "Remarks against Prophet Mohammed: Did West Asia social media outrage force BJP to take action?", The Tribune (Chandigarh), 5 June 2022
  29. ^ Helen Regan (10 June 2022), "India is facing a firestorm over ruling party officials' comments about Islam. Here's what you need to know", CNN
  30. ^ ""Fringe Elements": India Dismisses BJP Leaders' Remarks On Prophet", NDTV, 6 June 2022
  31. ^ "Qatar, Kuwait, Iran Summon Indian Envoys Over BJP Leaders' Remarks on Prophet Mohammed", The Wire, 6 June 2022
  32. ^ a b c Hannah Ellis-Petersen (6 June 2022), "Prophet Muhammad remarks embroil India in row with Gulf states", The Guardian
  33. ^ "Saudi, Bahrain and Afghanistan condemn controversial remarks of BJP leader". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 6 June 2022.
  34. ^ PTI (5 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma withdraws controversial statement after suspension from BJP", Business Standard
  35. ^ Hebbar, Nistula (6 June 2022). "Suspension of spokesperson sets off internal churn in BJP". The Hindu.
  36. ^ Sheikh Saaliq (AP) (6 June 2022), "Muslim nations slam India over insulting remarks about Islam", The Washington Post, Modi's party also faced anger from some of its own supporters, but it was for a different reason. Many Hindu nationalists posted comments on social media saying the government was buckling under international pressure.
  37. ^ Geeta Pandey (7 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The Indian woman behind offensive Prophet Muhammad comments", BBC News, But since her suspension, support has also been growing for the beleaguered former BJP spokesperson - hashtags such as #ISupportNupurSharma and #TakeBackNupurSharma have trended daily on social media, with tens of thousands praising her.
  38. ^ "Right-wing ecosystem turns on BJP for suspending Nupur Sharma", The Telegraph (India), 7 June 2022, While many young BJP cadres and leaders expressed their disgust privately at the action against Sharma, Delhi leader Kapil Mishra — accused of delivering hate speeches in the run-up to the February 2020 riots — expressed his displeasure in public.
  39. ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma Not Found, Mumbai Cops Hunt For Her In Delhi: Sources". NDTV.com. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  40. ^ Saha, Rajesh (20 June 2022). "'Threat to life': Nupur Sharma seeks 4 weeks to appear before Kolkata Police in Prophet row case". India Today. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  41. ^ Ojha, Arvind (12 January 2023). "Suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma gets gun licence, was threatened over Prophet remark". India Today. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  42. ^ "Supreme Court's refusal to club all FIRs against Nupur Sharma is bad in law". Indian Express. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  43. ^ Bhattacharjee, Saptadeepa (21 October 2024). "Nupur Sharma tenders apology for remarks on Ram Gopal Mishra's murder in Bahraich violence". India TV News. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
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