Kuwait Supermarket Pulls Indian Products, Boycott Being Considered over Insulting Holy Prophet
Workers at the Al-Ardiya Co-Operative Society store piled Indian tea and other products into trolleys in a protest against the Islamophobic comments.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the region, as well as the influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo, have condemned the remarks by a spokeswoman for Indian Prime Minister Narendra 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".
"We, as a Kuwaiti Muslim people, do not accept insulting the Prophet," Nasser Al-Mutairi, CEO of the store, told reporters.
An official at the chain said a company-wide boycott was being considered.
Sacrilegious comments by Bharatiya Janata Party spokeswoman Nupur Sharma have sparked furor 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 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 apologize for the Islamophobic comments, as India's Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu visited the gas-rich Persian 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.
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".
In further criticism of the Indian official, the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council, an umbrella group for the six Persian Gulf countries, "condemned, rejected and denounced" her comments.
Persian 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.
Source: AFP
