Watch| Kuwait store removes Indian products after ‘Islamophobic’ Prophet remark
As India faces diplomatic backlash from the Gulf nations over BJP leaders’ derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad and Islam, Indian products have started pulling out of Kuwait.
In a video, posted by the Arab News, workers of Al Ardiya Co operative Society, a superstore in Kuwait City are seen bringing down Indian teas and other products from their shelves and denouncing the remarks as “Islamophobic.”
“We boycotted Indian products because of insults to the Prophet. We, as Kuwaiti Muslim people do not accept insulting the prophet, ” Nasser Al-Mutairi, CEO of the superstore said.
There have also been several calls for the boycott of Indian products in many parts of the Gulf region, and hashtags critical of the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were top trends across social media in many countries.
This comes after Qatar, Kuwait and Iran – three nations with which India has had close ties for decades in the Gulf region – summoned Indian ambassadors to their countries to register their protest against the derogatory comments on Prophet Mohammad made by Sharma and Jindal last week. It came at a time when Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was in Qatar for a three-day official visit.
Along with this, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued statements against the remarks. Pakistan joined three other Islamic countries in summoning the Indian envoy to mark their displeasure. Bahrain too commented on the controversy, but appreciated the action taken by the BJP against its two leaders
On Sunday, the BJP had suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal, as over the weekend there was a growing chorus of criticism from the Arab world against their comments.
