On May 26, the then BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma made derogatory comments regarding Prophet Mohammad and his youngest wife Aisha during a national TV news debate. A clip of the debate was later shared on social media by fact-checker and AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair, who condemned the speech. Sharma later apologized for the comments and said that she was provoked by the mockery of the "Shiv ling" (pertaining to the Gyanvapi mosque Shringar Gauri temple complex dispute in which Hindu petitioners claimed a 'shiv ling' had been found inside the wazookhana of the 16th-century mosque).
(with inputs from agency)