Nupur Sharma says something about the Prophet (PBUH)

[Metaphor]

Indian government in eye of diplomatic storm after hate remarks about Prophet

Iran, Qatar and Kuwait summon the countries' Indian ambassadors, to lodge protests after remarks made by India's ruling party spokeswoman about the Prophet Mohammed.

www.abc.net.au

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suspended its spokeswoman, Nupur Sharma, after comments she made during a TV debate about the Prophet Mohammed.

In a statement on its website, the BJP said the party respected all religions: "The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion."

The suspension came after Ms Sharma's comments prompted complaints from several Muslim countries, including Iran, Qatar and Kuwait.

On Twitter, Ms Sharma admitted she had said some things in response to comments made about a Hindu God but that it was never her intention to hurt anyone's religious feelings.

"If my words have caused discomfort or hurt religious feelings, of anyone whatsoever, I hereby unconditionally withdraw my statement," she said.

Another BJP spokesman, Naveen Jindal, was expelled from the party over comments he made about Islam on social media, the BJP office said.

On Twitter, Mr Jindal said he had questioned some comments made against Hindu Gods: "I only questioned them, but that does not mean I am against any religion."

The BJP's online statement also said: "The Bharatiya Janata Party is also strongly against any ideology [that] insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy."


....

Oddly, the article fails to mention what the comments actually were. The ABC seems to have not so much as buried the lede as forgotten it exists. So I turned to other reliable and authoritative sources such as the BBC:

Nupur Sharma: Prophet Muhammad controversy tests India-Islamic world ties

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran have registered protests over the remark by BJP leader Nupur Sharma.

www.bbc.com

India has been forced to placate its partners in the Islamic world after growing anger over controversial comments made by two members of the country's ruling party about the Prophet Muhammad.

Nupur Sharma, who was an official spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made the remark on a television debate, while Naveen Jindal, who was media head of the party's Delhi unit, had posted a tweet on the issue. The comments - especially Ms Sharma's - angered the country's minority Muslim community, leading to sporadic protests in some states.

The BBC is not repeating Ms Sharma's remarks as they are offensive in nature.
...

Now, of course, I absolutely trust the BBC to protect me and decide for me what is offensive and what I should be able to read, but I wanted to put my big boy shoes on and bear the psychological consequences anyway.

The next source I turned to was The Guardian, but perhaps its search engine isn't working well, because it doesn't even seem to have mentioned this particular international diplomatic incident:



I thought I might be able to find the horrific, hateful, evil comments on reddit...but


I am so grateful to all the journalists and editors and mods who work so relentlessly behind the scenes to censor news stories for me.*

*The above sentence is counterfactual and in fact indicates my disdain for the situation, by employing sarcasm for rhetorical effect.

 

[Jayjay]

Apparently the comments were about Muhammed being a pedophile for marrying a 9-year old. And as usual, Muslims went bonkers over it. Same old same old.

But I guess the point was that nobody reports what was actually said, which is weird, because if her apology and suspension are newsworthy, then so should the original statement be also.

 

[Swammerdami]

I agree that it's ridiculous the way "incorrectness" is expunged from the 'Net. MANY times I've been in similar situation, wondering why someone is being castigated for what they said, only to learn that what they said was so horrible that I wasn't allowed to know what it was.

I learn that Dr. Seuss's To Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street is no longer printed, apparently because Seuss thought 'Chinaman' scanned better than 'Chinese person.' (Perhaps I should have encapsulated that 'Ch****an' in a spoiler box, with confirmation of 18+ age before Infidels are allowed to view it.) Huckleberry Finn, the great American novel written as an expose of 19th century racism, is now banned from many schools.

As for Muhammed's marriage to an under-age girl note that (a) it's unclear how old she was when the marriage was consummated; some say 15 or even 19; (b) far from being an exploited child, Aisha went on to become one of the most powerful persons in early Islam; (c) marriage at an early age was not unusual in some cultures.

As just one example of (c), King John lusted after Isabella d'Angoulême and stole her from her intended groom practically at the altar. Scholars estimate her age as 12 when she was married to the King.

As another example, Holy Mary Mother of God is supposed to have been a very young teenager or even pre-teen engaged to an old widower at the time she was raped by Jehovah. But I guess pedophilia, if that's what it was, is OK when you're a Christian.

 

[Metaphor]

I agree that it's ridiculous the way "incorrectness" is expunged from the 'Net. MANY times I've been in similar situation, wondering why someone is being castigated for what they said, only to learn that what they said was so horrible that I wasn't allowed to know what it was.

I learn that Dr. Seuss's To Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street is no longer printed, apparently because Seuss thought 'Chinaman' scanned better than 'Chinese person.' (Perhaps I should have encapsulated that 'Ch****an' in a spoiler box, with confirmation of 18+ age before Infidels are allowed to view it.) Huckleberry Finn, the great American novel written as an expose of 19th century racism, is now banned from many schools.

As for Muhammed's marriage to an under-age girl note that (a) it's unclear how old she was when the marriage was consummated; some say 15 or even 19; (b) far from being an exploited child, Aisha went on to become one of the most powerful persons in early Islam; (c) marriage at an early age was not unusual in some cultures.

As just one example of (c), King John lusted after Isabella d'Angoulême and stole her from her intended groom practically at the altar. Scholars estimate her age as 12 when she was married to the King.

As another example, Holy Mary Mother of God is supposed to have been a very young teenager or even pre-teen engaged to an old widower at the time she was raped by Jehovah. But I guess pedophilia, if that's what it was, is OK when you're a Christian.

One major difference between God and Mohammed is that the God never impregnated Mary, because God doesn't exist.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I thought I might be able to find the horrific, hateful, evil comments on reddit...but
View attachment 38905

I am so grateful to all the journalists and editors and mods who work so relentlessly behind the scenes to censor news stories for me.*

*The above sentence is counterfactual and in fact indicates my disdain for the situation, by employing sarcasm for rhetorical effect.

I've seen plenty of completely legitimate things zapped on Reddit for the simple reason that they're duplicates. A site:reddit.com search returns many hits on this.

 

[TSwizzle]

The followers of islam must be protected from any potentially offensive material;

Hundreds of demonstrators turned out in Bradford, Bolton, Birmingham and Sheffield to protest venues showing The Lady of Heaven.
The movie was released in the UK over the Jubilee weekend but has been pulled by Cineworld from all its branches after staff faced crowds of protesters demanding it was removed from circulation. The movie's executive producer, Malik Shlibak, called the decision to pull it 'unacceptable' and accused the chain of 'bowing down to radical extremists'.

Daily Mail

 

[Arctish]

I agree with Metaphor.

The news story that someone got in trouble for saying something should include a quote or close paraphrase of the offending remarks so that the reader can understand the events in context. We're left guessing about what the comments were or how offensive a reasonable person might find them.

And the threat of violence if the statements are repeated is very concerning. The bar for allowing that kind of censorship should be set extremely high, if it is allowed at all.

Maybe Nupur Sharma was being an asshole and should have been fired for bringing disrepute to the BJP. Maybe she wasn't being an asshole but the Party rightfully removed her as spokesperson for being incompetent. Or maybe what she said was perfectly acceptable in Indian society despite the outraged howls of a handful of religious fanatics, and she should not have been censured at all. We have no idea because we don't know what she actually said or how it might be expected to resonate in South Asia.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I agree with Metaphor.

The news story that someone got in trouble for saying something should include a quote or close paraphrase of the offending remarks so that the reader can understand the events in context. We're left guessing about what the comments were or how offensive a reasonable person might find them.

And the threat of violence if the statements are repeated is very concerning. The bar for allowing that kind of censorship should be set extremely high, if it is allowed at all.

Maybe Nupur Sharma was being an asshole and should have been fired for bringing disrepute to the BJP. Maybe she wasn't being an asshole but the Party rightfully removed her as spokesperson for being incompetent. Or maybe what she said was perfectly acceptable in Indian society despite the outraged howls of a handful of religious fanatics, and she should not have been censured at all. We have no idea because we don't know what she actually said or how it might be expected to resonate in South Asia.

Given what we have heard and the unwillingness of news sources to give her words it was probably something about Mohamed, perhaps about his marriage to a 9 year old. And India has previously shown willingness to kowtow to the Middle East nations. Just look at the case of princess Latifa to see how they behave.