Mumbai, Jun 9 (PTI) The Shiv Sena on Thursday blamed the BJP for the threats issued allegedly by terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda over the controversial remarks made against Prophet Mohammad by former BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal.

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Talking to reporters, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut alleged that when everything was going on fine in the country, the BJP spokespersons were trying to vitiate its atmosphere and pit one religion against the other.

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"The BJP is responsible for the threats and the possible rise in terrorism in the country. If anything happens in the country, then only the BJP is responsible for this. The BJP doesn't represent the country," Raut said in response to a question about Al-Qaeda's threat to India following the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad.

He said when the BJP spokesperson made remarks on Prophet Mohammad, the believers of Islam were hurt.

"Which is why if there is any danger in the country then the BJP is responsible for it," he said.

The controversial remarks also led to an outrage in the Islamic world with many Arab countries lodging a protest against it.

At a rally in Aurangabad on Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said because of the BJP, the country had to face an embarrassing situation at the international level as it was "brought to its knees and was forced to apologise" by the Arab countries over the controversial remarks made by the party spokesperson on Prophet Mohammad.

The BJP had on Sunday suspended Sharma and expelled its Delhi unit media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after a row over their alleged derogatory remarks against the Prophet.

The Centre has distanced itself from the remarks, saying they do not reflect the views of the government.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)