The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Friday, 10 June, urged Islamic scholars and intellectuals to not participate in television debates whose "sole intention was to make a mockery and insult Islam and Muslims."
In a statement, the AIMPLB said that by participating in such programmes, maulvis and scholars are not doing any service to Islam, adding that the intention of such programmes was to defame Muslims.
"The intention of these programs is not to reach any conclusion through constructive discourse, but to ridicule and defame Islam and Muslims," a statement from the AIMPLB said.
They further added that some television channels were including Muslims in their debates only to "gather some legitimacy."
"Due to their obliviousness, our Islamic scholars (Ulema) and intellectuals become victims of such agendas," the statement read.
The Islamic body further said that boycotting such programmes would lead to a reduction in their Television Rating Points (TRPs) and would prevent them from achieving their desired outcomes.
"If we boycott such programs and channels, not only it will affect their TRP negatively, but they will also fail in achieving their desired outcome through these debates."
Background
This comes after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson (now suspended) Nupur Sharma made controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammad on prime-time TV.
Sharma was also charged under sections 295A (acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505B IPC (inducing to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility) after a complaint was filed by Raza Academy, an organisation of Indian Sunni Muslims.
The BJP had on 5 June suspended Sharma and expelled Naveen Jindal from the party's primary membership over her derogatory comments.
Meanwhile, protests broke out in several states on Friday over Sharma's remarks.
Protests and violent incidents were reported in Delhi, various parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, and Maharashtra.
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