Muslim nations condemn Delhi

International backlash is growing against India after a ruling party official made Islamophobic comments during a televised debate, with Qatar and several other Muslim nations lodging official protests against New Delhi and demanding a "public apology", report agencies.
At least five Arab nations have lodged official protests against India, and Pakistan and Afghanistan also reacted strongly on Monday to the comments made by two members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Anger has poured out on social media, and calls for a boycott of Indian goods have surfaced in some Arab countries.
Al Jazeera TV on Monday reported that Indian products were removed from shelves in some shops in Kuwait.
The criticism from Muslim countries had been severe, indicating that insulting Prophet Muhammad is a red line.
The anger has been growing since last week after the two BJP members - national spokeswoman Nupur Sharma and Delhi BJP staff Naveen Jindal - made remarks that were seen as insulting Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha.
India's government sought on Monday to calm anger at home and abroad after two officials of the ruling BJP party made remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, with 38 people arrested for rioting in a northern city and a protest planned later in Mumbai.
In a statement, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi said "these insulting remarks would lead to incitement of religious hatred, and offend more than two billion Muslims around the world".
Doha is expecting "a public apology and immediate condemnation of these remarks" from the Indian government, said the statement, which came as India's Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited the wealthy Gulf state on Sunday in a bid to bolster trade.
Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti supermarket pulled Indian products from its shelves and Iran became the latest Middle Eastern country to summon the Indian ambassador as a row grew on Monday over a ruling party official's remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.
Workers at the Al-Ardiya Co-Operative Society store piled Indian tea and other products into trolleys in a protest against comments denounced as "Islamophobic".
The influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo, has condemned the remarks by a spokeswoman for Modi's party, who has since been suspended.
At the supermarket just outside Kuwait City, sacks of rice and shelves of spices and chilies were covered with plastic sheets. Printed signs in Arabic read: "We have removed Indian products".
Comments by Bharatiya Janata Party spokeswoman Nupur Sharma describing the prophet Mohammed's relationship with his youngest wife have sparked furore among Muslims.
Sharma's remarks during a televised debate last week were blamed for clashes in an Indian state and prompted demands for her arrest.
Anger spread overseas to Muslim countries about the remarks.
Modi's party, which has frequently been accused of acting against the country's Muslim minority, on Sunday suspended Sharma for expressing "views contrary to the party's position" and said it "respects all religions".
Sharma said on Twitter that her comments had been in response to "insults" made against the Hindu god Shiva.
"If my words have caused discomfort or hurt religious feelings of anyone whatsoever, I hereby unconditionally withdraw my statement," she said.
On Sunday, Qatar demanded that India apologise for the "Islamophobic" comments, as India's Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu visited the gas-rich Gulf state in a bid to bolster trade.
Iran followed Qatar and Kuwait by summoning the Indian ambassador to protest in the name of "the government and the people", state news agency IRNA said late on Sunday.
Al-Azhar University, one of Islam's most important institutions, said the comments were "the real terrorism" and "could plunge the entire world into deadly crisis and wars".
The Saudi-based Muslim World League said the remarks could "incite hatred", while Saudi Arabia's General Presidency of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque called them a "heinous act".
The row follows anger across the Muslim world in 2020 after French President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of a satirical magazine to publish caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in October 2020 by a Chechen refugee after showing the cartoons to his class in a lesson on free speech. Images of the Prophet are strictly forbidden in Islam.
In further criticism of the Indian official, the Gulf Cooperation Council, an umbrella group for the six Gulf countries, "condemned, rejected and denounced" her comments.
Bahrain also welcomed the BJP's decision to suspend Sharma over "provocation to Muslims' feelings and incitement to religious hatred".
Gulf countries are a major destination for India's overseas workers, accounting for 8.7 million out of a worldwide total of 13.5 million, Indian foreign ministry figures show.
They are also big importers of produce from India and elsewhere, with Kuwait importing 95 percent of its food according to the trade minister.
Kuwaiti media have reported that the government asked New Delhi for an exemption from India's surprise ban on wheat exports over food security and inflation worries.