Government's response on row over remark on Prophet not enough: Hamid Ansari

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Former Vice-President Hamid Ansari has said that the government's reaction to the controversy over the comments on the Prophet is not enough. "For the embassy to issue statements is not enough. It is not enough for the official spokesperson to issue a clarification. This should have been dealt with at an appropriate political level," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview. "The Prime Minister could have diffused the issue but no one thought it fit to do this at an appropriate time. The PM should have said the appropriate thing... He knows what to say. I don't have to tell him what to do and what not to do," he added.

Nupur Sharma's comments have created furore globally. The BJP had on Sunday (June 5) suspended Sharma and expelled its Delhi unit media head Naveen Kumar Jindal amid a row over their controversial remarks with some Muslim countries lodging their protest. The government has mentioned that the comments were not made by any government functionary and have no impact on the government. 

The backlash, he added, was ‘inevitable’. "This is not a matter of an individual. It affects a community of a particular faith... if it affects every Muslim on the globe then such a reaction is bound to happen. This is inevitable," he further added.