Barack Obama: Row in India over former US president's remarks on Muslim rights

Leaders of India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have criticised former US President Barack Obama for his recent remarks on Muslims in India.

Mr Obama said in an interview last week that India may "start pulling apart" if the rights of minorities weren't protected.

He was responding to a question on how President Joe Biden should engage with "autocratic" leaders.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the US on a state visit at the time.

Federal finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters on Sunday that she was "shocked" by Mr Obama's comments.

"When Mr Modi was campaigning in the US - and by campaigning I mean speaking about India - a former US president was speaking about Indian Muslims."

She went on to say that India wanted good relations with the US but "there too we get remarks about religious tolerance in India".

He received a warm welcome from business leaders and members of the large and influential India diaspora that includes many Silicon Valley CEOs. However, there were also protests against his government - which is led by the Hindu nationalist BJP - which has been accused of not doing enough to protect minorities from violence and discrimination.

During his visit, 75 Democrats wrote a letter to Mr Biden, urging him to raise human rights issues with Mr Modi. Some of them, including representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, boycotted his address to Congress.

At a joint press conference with Mr Biden, Mr Modi also said that there was "no space for any discrimination" under his government, in response to a question on rights of Muslims and other minorities in India.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour which was aired before Mr Modi addressed the US Congress, Mr Obama had said that the "protection of the Muslim minority in a majority Hindu India" was worth mentioning when Mr Biden spoke to the Indian leader.

Mr Obama shared a warm relationship with Mr Modi while in office.

Ms Sitharaman, however, said that the US had bombed Muslim-majority countries including Syria and Yemen while Mr Obama was in power.

Mr Obama and the US have not publicly commented on these remarks.

On Sunday, Mr Modi tweeted his agreement with Mr Biden's remarks on the friendship between the two countries being among "the most consequential in the world".

Ms Sitharaman's comments came days after a tweet by a BJP chief minister sparked a controversy.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted that there were many "Hussain Obama in India itself" who needed to be taken care of. He was responding to a journalist's sarcastic tweet asking whether a case had been filed against Mr Obama for "hurting sentiments" with his remarks on India.

Mr Obama's full name is Barack Hussein Obama II.

Some opposition politicians accused Mr Sarma of issuing a "veiled threat" to India's Muslim population.

Political scientist Ashutosh Varshney told the Washington Post that Mr Sarma's tweet mentioning Mr Obama's middle name was a way of "twisting" his remarks into ones "made by a Muslim" even though the former president does not practise Islam.

After the controversy, Mr Sarma told the Indian Express newspaper that he stood by his tweet.

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