By Mohammed Kudrati
A report from 2017, that states that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have suspended the license of Qatar Airways, is being shared as recent.
This report is a cropped headline of an India TV report in Hindi, which is being shared with the context of a more recent development without the 2017 timestamp. Qatar summoned the Indian ambassador to officially complain against comments made by two spokespersons of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Prophet Mohammed.
The party has officially suspended the spokespersons in question from party membership: Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal.
While this has met official protestation from several Muslim-majorities, with them summoning the Indian ambassador to complain.
There has been discontent in Muslims locally too on this issue, with protests being held again the government and these comments in several cities across India like Delhi, Ranchi and Kanpur.
As a counteraction to these protests, supporters of the government called for a boycott of products of Arab countries, including Qatar Airways.
Also Read: Gulf Countries Mount Pressure On India Over BJP Members' Anti-Prophet Comments
The claim in question can be seen below.
The cropped headline states in Hindi, "Amid this diplomatic crisis, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain suspends the license of Qatar Airways". Further, an additional caption below it states, "Gulf and Arab countries are deleting tweets made against Hinduism and India".
This has also been shared on social media.
FactCheck
The India TV story is from June 7, 2017, which is being shared as recent. It can be read here.
Courtesy: India TV
In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with Qatar over allegations that it was supporting terrorism, and that it was warming up to Iran, which these countries, especially Saudi Arabia, sees as a regional rival.
This diplomatic rift also included an air, sea and land boycott, which included the revoking of the permission given to Qatar Airways, the state carrier of Qatar, to fly over the airspace of these countries.
However, ties were restored in early January 2021 after a nearly three-year boycott, with the Al-Ula Declaration in Saudi Arabia between Qatar and these four countries.
The thawing of ties in relations also meant that Qatar Airways would be permitted to fly over Saudi Arabian airspace, with the first flight being from Doha in Qatar to Johannesburg in South Africa on January 7 last year.
Also Read: Old Video From Kuwait Peddled As Man Beaten For Praising Nupur Sharma
