NEW DELHI: Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who stoked a massive controversy last year during a TV-debate, has been given an arms licence, a senior Delhi Police official confirmed on Thursday.
"Yes she had applied for a gun licence as she has been receiving death threats," the official confirmed to the New Indian Express.
Sharma had last year allegedly made derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed on a private TV news channel that set off an international furore. Several Muslim nations, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia and Iran, as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation officially protested their statements and demanded an apology.
Following the uproar, the BJP suspended Sharma and another leader, Naveen Kumar Jindal, who also made insulting comments against Prophet Muhammad on social media.
However, soon after her comments, Sharma was targeted on social media and received thousands of death threats following which the police even provided a security cover to her.
The suspended BJP leader had lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police on May 27, 2022, alleging that she had been receiving death threats after which the Special Cell of the Delhi Police had registered an FIR last year.
After being suspended from the party, even though Sharma withdrew her remarks saying her comments were not meant to hurt any religious feeling but a rebuttal to the mocking of Shivling, yet, it triggered protests across the country and incidents of violence, some gruesome, were also reported.
One of the most barbaric was when a tailor was beheaded inside his shop on a crowded street in Udaipur for supporting the suspended BJP spokesperson on social media. Another one was the killing of a 54-year-old chemist in Maharashtra's Amravati. He too had extended his support to Sharma on social media.
Hundreds of FIRs were registered all over the country against Sharma which were later clubbed by the Supreme Court. In one of the hearings, the top Court came down heavily on Sharma, saying her "loose tongue had set the country on fire".