Congress' former president Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over summons to Indian envoys by 10 countries after the party's suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma's derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
Gandhi in a tweet wrote, "Divided internally, India becomes weak externally. BJP’s shameful bigotry has not only isolated us, but also damaged India’s standing globally."
His tweet comes after over 10 Islamic nations including Pakistan have condemned the remarks passed by the former BJP spokesperson.
Amid demonstrations by Muslim groups and the sharp reaction from countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Iran and the BJP issued a statement asserting that it respects all religions and strongly denounces insults of any religious personality.
India's ambassadors to Kuwait and Qatar were summoned on Sunday to receive official notes of protest over the comments.
Doha has also demanded the Indian government issue a public apology.
Sharma's comments, made in a TV debate nearly 10 days ago, and Jindal's now-deleted tweets sparked a Twitter trend calling for a boycott of Indian products in some countries.
After the action, Sharma unconditionally withdrew her controversial statement made in the TV debate and claimed that her comments were a reaction to "continuous insult and disrespect towards our Mahadev"' (Lord Shiva).
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