A social media post which claims that 34 countries, including Russia, Netherlands, France, and Israel showed support for India and suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma after her inflammatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad is being widely shared on social media.
The claim comes after Sharma and the BJP drew international criticism for her controversial remarks against the Islamic Prophet on a television debate.
However, this is false. We found no mention of any of the countries named as supporting the former spokesperson, or India, in news reports, or in verified social media accounts of foreign ministries of the countries over the recent controversy.
CLAIM
The post is being shared with text in Hindi, which translates to:
"34 countries including Russia, Netherlands, France and Israel showed their support for India and Nupur Sharma. Jai Shri Ram."
An archive of this post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
Using relevant keywords, we looked for reports of any countries issuing statements of support over the Nupur Sharma-Prophet Muhammed remarks controversy, but came across news reports of countries and bodies criticising the suspended BJP spokesperson.
There was only one report by Times of India, discussing Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, known for his far-right views, supporting Sharma.
On his verified Twitter account, Wilders has shared multiple tweets supporting Sharma and questioning the protests and action taken against her.
(Note: Swipe right to view all photos)
Wilders has shared posts with hashtags supporting Sharma.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Next, we checked the websites of the Russian embassy, the French embassy, the Israeli embassy and the Dutch embassy, but did not find any statement of support or solidarity with India or Nupur Sharma.
We also checked the foreign ministry accounts of each of the countries, where there was no mention of Sharma.
We have reached out the embassies of these countries and the story will be updated if and when we receive a response.
Evidently, the claim that 34 countries came out in support of India and Nupur Sharma after she made inflammatory remarks regarding Prophet Muhammad on a television debate is false.
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