This article will not only answer the question, “What is Nupur Sharma case“; it will also highlight the key details that have not been shared by most mainstream media and news portals of India. Further, you will learn about the exact Nupur Sharma comment on Prophet Muhammad and the context behind those statements. So, let’s begin.
In 2022, the three most searched individuals in India on Google were Nupur Sharma, Droupadi Murmu and Rishi Sunak. Two of them made it to this list when they were appointed to the top positions in their countries. Droupadi Murmu became the President of India, and Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister of Britain. People were curious about them so they searched queries and information about them during those times.
However, the number 1 most searched person on Google here is a wildcard. Her name is Nupur Sharma. She was neither popular nor did she hold any powerful position. Nupur Sharma is at the top of this list because she is a Hindu woman whom Muslims worldwide, including in India, hate. A big part of the Muslim population in India would like to see her either imprisoned or hanged for her alleged blasphemy.
It’s not just individual Muslims who hate her; more than 14 Muslim countries have issued official statements against her, and they too wish to see her punished. The total population of these Muslim countries exceeds 1 billion people.
Terrorists from countries like Turkey and Pakistan even started coming to India to kill this one Hindu woman from New Delhi. Due to such significant life threats, this woman had to buy a gun for self-defence and now has to live her life in hiding, away from public eyes. No one knows where she lives. She can never go out in public alone, especially not to places where there are many Muslims. Even when she needs to get out of her house, she is always protected by her security guards.
So, what did this one Hindu woman from New Delhi, India do that has made over a billion Muslims angry at her? Even India’s Supreme Court abandoned her. Instead of supporting her right to free speech, the Supreme Court said Nupur has a “Loose Tongue“. Furthermore, the Indian government not only abandoned her but also labelled her a “fringe element”.
Who is this Hindu woman for whom even the freedom to stay alive, let alone freedom of speech, does not exist in India? You’ll learn about her in this article.
What is the Nupur Sharma Case
Let’s start from the beginning. This is a well-known Gyanvapi Mosque located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that centuries ago, Muslim invaders demolished a large Shiva temple there, and this mosque was built using the remnants of that temple. Archaeological and historical evidence is also available for those claims. Hindus have been trying to reclaim this site for centuries, with many back-to-back cases being fought in court for decades.
The latest plea in this matter was filed on May 12, 2022, by five Hindu women seeking the right to worship at the site. During the case, a video survey of the Gyanvapi site was conducted. This video survey found numerous Hindu symbols and structures. Finally, a structure resembling a Shivling was also discovered in the mosque’s wuzu khana (a place for washing your body parts like hands and feet before offering prayers). The video survey also indicated that damage had been done to the alleged Shivling’s topmost part.
When this Shivling was found and the video survey went viral online, people all over India started talking about it. TV news debates were happening every day discussing the future of this site and whether Hindus should get their temple back.
- As soon as that survey video of Shivling inside Gyanvapi Mosque went online, certain Muslim extremist groups started offensive anti-Hindu campaigns on social media and national television mocking the Shivling. They were not only mocking the Shivling but also comparing it to objects like fountains, stones and nuclear reactors, all to hurt Hindu sentiments. These derogatory remarks against Hindus continued for days. They even insulted Lord Krishna by using abusive language, all to demean and discourage Hindus.
- Hindus could not respond to these insults in the same insulting tone because doing so would likely result in jail time for those Hindus or even attacks on them; both are real possibilities in these cases due to the strange workings of India’s blasphemy laws.
- It was easy for extreme Muslim groups to keep mocking Hindus as much as they wanted. Such verbal attacks against Hindus were further carried out by many Islamic and political spokespersons over TV news debates. In many ways, it was a one-sided bullying of Hindus.
While all this happened on social media, TV news debates about the same topic were also happening in India. In May 2022, Nupur Sharma appeared on a Times Now news channel debate as a spokesperson for the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). The topic of that debate was the Gyanvapi issue, where the Shivling had been found. This debate was supposed to discuss whether the mosque was indeed built by demolishing a Shiva temple or not and whether this site should be given back to Hindus, but the debate went completely sideways.
During the debate, the person opposing Nupur Sharma was a Muslim spokesperson named Taslim Ahmed Rehmani. He allegedly made derogatory comments about Lord Shiva, repeatedly referring to the Shivling as a fountain, which was a common trend in TV debates at that time by Muslim clerics.
This deeply affected Nupur Sharma, a practising Hindu. She countered Rehmani aggressively, asking how he would react if she started criticizing Islam and the Prophet similarly. Then, she allegedly quoted references from the Quran and Hadith.
What was Nupur Sharma’s Comment on Muhammad – What did Nupur Sharma say
There is no doubt about the fact that Nupur’s statement deeply offended Muslims. Many of you have wanted to know exactly what Nupur Sharma said on TV regarding the Prophet Muhammad.
In this Times Now debate, Nupur Sharma’s exact words were as follows. She said, “They can mock Shivling by calling it a fountain as much as they want. The reality is that the Supreme Court ordered the protection of the immediate area (where Shivling was found in the mosque). You call it a Wazu khana (a place to clean hands and feet for Muslims) for the sole purpose of offending Hindus. What if in return I start talking about the ‘flying horses’ and ‘flat earth’ which have been mentioned in your Quran, should I start mocking all that in the same way?”
Further, she said, “Prophet Muhammad is marrying a girl at the age of 6 and then he is having sex with her when she is just 9 years old. Should I start talking about that? Earth is flat according to Quran 88:20 (a reference to a verse according to her). So, don’t speak nonsense (about Hinduism). Sit on your flying horse and fly away.”
When Nupur Sharma said all this and Taslim Ahmed Rehmani interrupted her continuously, it seemed like an argument between two panellists of this debate. By this point, both opposing panellists had allegedly insulted each other’s religions.
How did the Nupur Sharma controversy become an international issue?
In a TV debate where a Muslim panellist Taslim Ahmed Rehmani allegedly insults Hindus and a Hindu Nupur Sharma criticizes Islam in response, have you wondered why Hindus didn’t go after the Muslim spokesperson for insulting the Shivling? Why only the Muslim side felt offended so much so that they organized many violent protests all over India. It’s because Hindus didn’t care about some Muslim spokesperson mocking their religion. As a result, Tasleem Rehmani can still move freely in public and can oppose Hindus on national television the very same way that he used to.
On the other hand, Nupur Sharma can’t even step outside of her house because Muslims believe she committed blasphemy and insulted Islam, which they think is punishable by death.
But how did this issue become national and international? That’s an interesting story in itself. After Nupur Sharma’s Times Now debate, various Muslim Twitter handles from India started tagging Islamic countries and their embassies within their tweets. They started requesting them to put pressure on India to punish Nupur Sharma for insulting their religion by giving her the death penalty.
The biggest X (formerly Twitter) account among these Muslim handles belonged to Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News. He smartly and carefully edited Nupur Sharma’s clip from that news debate. Furthermore, he trimmed the video part where Tasleem Rehmani (a Muslim) insulted Hindus and provoked Nupur Sharma. Zubair used his social media reach to make this edited clip viral in India and Islamic countries.
And then, the entire Islamic ecosystem got activated, with more than 14 Islamic countries criticizing India back-to-back for Nupur Sharma’s statement.
Nupur Sharma’s Reply on OpIndia’s Channel – Quran and Hadith Quotes
Mohammed Zubair, who claims to be a fact-checker but is known online as “Clip Catua” (video Clip cutter) made this edited clip viral and activated the Islamic extremists to oppose the Hindu woman Nupur Sharma. This was the trigger point where Nupur Sharma’s life came under threat.
Subsequently, on OpIndia, Nupur gave an interview clarifying things and putting her side of the story. She stated that if anything happens to her or her family, Zubair should be held responsible for it since he triggered all this hate against her.
In this interview, Nupur Sharma also provided sources for the alleged Islamic verses she quoted. She further mentioned that Zakir Naik, one of the most popular Islamic speakers has also mentioned these same hadiths in his speeches and millions of Muslims listen to his speeches. However, this interview had no big impact because, by this point in time, Nupur Sharma’s statement on Muhammad was already seen as blasphemy by a big section of Muslims. These people had already made up their minds and had concluded that Nupur Sharma was an enemy of Islam.
Aftermath of Nupur Sharma’s statement
After this incident, thousands of Muslims took to the streets across India, burning effigies of Nupur Sharma, demanding her execution, and chanting “Sar Tan Se Juda” (beheading those who insult the Prophet) slogans.
- ISIS, Taliban and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists worldwide were planning to kill her. Terrorists from Turkey and Pakistan started coming to India to kill her. In August 2022, a Turkish terrorist was detained in Russia, this terrorist wanted to attack Nupur Sharma in India.
- Another Pakistani terrorist, Rizwan Ashraf, illegally crossed the border with an 11-inch knife to kill Nupur. He was caught in Rajasthan’s Ganga Nagar district on 19 July 2022. In August 2022, another Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist, Mohammad Nadeem, was caught in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, planning to kill Nupur Sharma.
- Bangladeshi Islamic extremists went even further when on June 7, they targeted a 25-year-old NGO worker, Nupur Saha, just because her first name was Nupur. They allegedly wanted revenge against the Indian Nupur Sharma, the timing of those two incidents is not just a mere coincidence. Please note that this Nupur Saha from Bangladesh was six months pregnant, but she was still gang-raped and killed. Then her dead body was dumped in a field.
In the long list of people who were passionate about taking revenge on Nupur Sharma, this incident in Bangladesh was just the beginning for these Islamic extremists.
The Islamists in India further killed many Hindus like Tailor Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kolhe. These Hindu’s only crime was supporting Nupur Sharma on social media or in real life. Hindu families had to flee, abandoning their homes because they were targeted for supporting Nupur Sharma online. Even a TV actress received death threats for supporting Nupur Sharma. There were numerous such cases.
The most extreme case was in Udaipur, Rajasthan, where Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was stabbed to death by two Islamic extremists because they believed he had supported Nupur Sharma online. Those two Muslims recorded the murder on their phone, took selfies with their bloodied knives, and proudly shared those photos and videos online.
You won’t believe this easily, but that selfie is now a template picture which is used by white supremacists and Islamic extremists online hate groups in the USA and other countries to express their hate against Hindus. They share these photos and messages on their hate groups on websites like 4chan, websites which are known for accepting such hate groups on their platform.
Supreme Court judgement on Nupur Sharma case
- For the murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, the Supreme Court did not hold the Islamic extremists solely accountable. The court also blamed Nupur Sharma, the same Hindu victim who was facing death threats from Islamic extremists.
- On 1 July 2022, Justice Surya Kant from the Supreme Court bench blamed Nupur Sharma’s “loose tongue” for the violent murders of Hindus all over the country. Justice Surya Kant also said that she has set the entire country on fire, and is responsible for everything happening in this country. (violent crimes against Hindus)
- For these Islamic extremists, this Supreme Court statement was almost like an approval they were waiting for. Now they could indulge in as much violence as they wanted. After all, the Supreme Court (one of the biggest authorities in India) had declared that it was Nupur’s fault. That’s all these extremists wanted to hear.
- After the Supreme Court’s statement, the number of rape and death threats against Nupur Sharma increased rapidly. Islamists started killing even more Hindus across India and openly chanting “Sar Tan Se Juda (beheading of anyone who insults the Prophet) slogans.”
- A Muslim from Mewat even announced a 2 crore reward for anyone who could bring Nupur Sharma’s tongue, the same tongue which the Supreme Court had already labelled as “loose tongue”.
- The irony here is that the Supreme Court judge who blamed Nupur Sharma’s statement for the murders of Hindus by Islamists, that same judge two years later said, “Free speech is important, it must be protected.” However, just two years ago, this free speech was only available for Tasleem Rehmani, who insulted Lord Shiva, it wasn’t available for Nupur Sharma.
At this point, it was clear that nobody knew when Nupur Sharma could be killed. Due to this, Nupur applied for a gun license for self-defence, which she received on 12 January 2023. Since then, she has been living in hiding, barely surviving.
Role of Media and International Players in This Controversy
Media and social media activists were also against Nupur. News channels used her situation to boost TRPs for their TV News channels. Big YouTubers and “so-called Social media activists” like Dhruv Rathee, who works for the Aam Aadmi Party, also opposed Nupur Sharma. They did not support her, not even in the name of free speech. Dhruv Rathee’s video labelled Nupur Sharma’s free speech as “freedom to abuse”.
Overall, more than 14 Muslim countries opposed Nupur Sharma and the Indian govt for not punishing her. These are the same Islamic countries with no concept of free speech; many of them are straight-up dictatorships. How can any of these countries have any right to judge any democracy with all kinds of freedom?
Under pressure, India’s BJP government bowed down to these Islamic countries and labelled Nupur Sharma a fringe element. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also expelled her from the party and threw her to the wolves to save themselves from all backlash.
Many people were disappointed with these actions by the Indian government, feeling it was succumbing to Islamic Sharia law, not showing any backbone, and not protecting the rights of its Hindu citizens.
People also cited France’s example, where similar cases of blasphemy against Islam occurred many times. French President Emmanuel Macron stood by his country and its citizens’ rights. He said, “Whether I agree with the statement or not, as the leader of a democratic country, I must defend my citizens’ right to speak, draw, think and draw freely”. This is the kind of response many Indian citizens expected from India’s PM but were disappointed.
FAQs
What did Nupur Sharma say on TV regarding Prophet Muhammad?
While attending a TV debate on Times Now, Nupur Sharma felt offended by a Muslim spokesperson’s anti-Hindu comments. In reply, she said, “How would you feel if I start talking about Prophet Muhammad marrying a 6-year-old girl and having sex with her when she was 9”. This comment was later seen as hate speech by many Muslims.
Where is Nupur Sharma hiding?
After the Nupur Sharma controversy, she had no other choice but to live in hiding. There is no information about her current whereabouts. She is not seen in public as often as she used to. Now, even when she has to go to any public event, she is always protected by security guards.
What is Nupur Sharma’s hate speech?
While attending a news debate on Times Now, Nupur Sharma passed some controversial statements on Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Those statements of hers are considered hate speech by many Muslims.
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This is all the key information we have on the Nupur Sharma case. After reading this, what are your thoughts? Should we allow such blasphemy laws to exist in India which can endanger the life of any Indian citizen who wishes to speak freely? Shouldn’t we allow absolute free speech to protect our citizens’ rights? What are your thoughts? I would like to hear your comments on the issue.
