Indonesia, Malaysia summon Indian envoys over anti-Islam remarks

Indonesia and Malaysia summoned India's envoys on Tuesday to protest over derogatory remarks made about Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) by two members of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The move followed a row of protests issued by the Islamic world after the controversy sparked a widespread furore in these countries.

Earlier, middle eastern nations (Kuwait, Iran and Qatar) summoned New Delhi's envoys to register their protest and a Kuwaiti supermarket removed Indian products.

The remark of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who has since been suspended, was made during a televised debate last month. Another official, the party's media chief for Delhi, posted a similar anti-Islamic tweet last week that was later deleted.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said India's ambassador in Jakarta, Manoj Kumar Bharti, was summoned, with the government lodging a complaint about anti-Muslim rhetoric.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the ministry said Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim-majority country -- "strongly condemns unacceptable derogatory rely marks" made by two Indian politicians against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).

The tweet did not mention the officials by name but was an apparent reference to BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma and the party's Delhi media chief Naveen Jindal, who was expelled from the BJP, according to Indian media reports.

Another Muslim majority Asian country, Malaysia, joined the protest yesterday along with at least 15 other countries to censure the remarks. 

Malaysia's foreign ministry said it "unreservedly condemns the derogatory remarks" by Indian politicians, adding that it had conveyed its "total repudiation" to the Indian ambassador.

"Malaysia calls upon India to work together in ending Islamophobia and cease any provocative acts in the interest of peace and stability," it said.

Indian diplomats have been trying to placate these countries - it shares cordial relations with most of them - but the storm is far from over.