New Delhi, India – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused him of spreading hatred against Muslims for controversial comments during a general election that equated the community with “infiltrators” and spread anti-Muslim tropes. facing.
Addressing a crowded rally in the western state of Rajasthan, Modi said that if the opposition party led by the Congress party came to power, it would distribute the country’s wealth to “people who have more children”, apparently mentioned Muslims. He was speaking just before.
“Should we hand over our hard-earned money to an intruder?” he told a cheering crowd, adding that opponents should take every opportunity to do the mangalsutra (a Hindu wedding in which a husband cuts his wife’s neck). He insisted that he would even take away the auspicious necklace worn by the deceased.
Local poll officials in Rajasthan confirmed to Al Jazeera that they had received at least two complaints against Mr. Modi seeking to stop his campaign and for him to be arrested.
Renu Poonia, an election officer at the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the state capital Jaipur, said the complaints were received from regional party Azad Adhikar Sena and local non-profit organizations. India’s election laws prohibit political parties and politicians from engaging in speeches or campaigns aimed at perpetuating religious or caste differences. But independent watchdog groups and activists have long complained that election officials act too slowly, if at all, especially in cases involving powerful government figures.
For years, many leaders of Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in India’s right-wing Hindu majority have effectively portrayed the country’s 200 million Muslims as outsiders. Muslim asylum seekers and refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar are particularly targeted as “infiltrators.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its partners have also long promoted a conspiracy theory that India’s Muslims aim to have more children and eventually outnumber the country’s Hindus. In fact, birth rates among India’s Muslims have declined the fastest of all communities, nearly halving over the past three decades, according to government data.
Mr. Modi himself popularized this stereotype when he infamously derided relief camps as baby-producing factories after anti-Muslim massacres in Gujarat, when he was chief minister in 2002.
But in recent years, Prime Minister Modi has focused on his government’s claimed achievements in economic and social development, even as other party members and coalition partners have often resorted to openly Islamophobic comments and acts of violence. It was also a key driver of his 2024 re-election campaign.
until now.
Political commentator Asim Ali said Modi’s comments were “the most incendiary statement by a sitting prime minister in India’s recent history” and signaled a major shift in the electoral narrative. India is set to vote in the second of seven phases of national elections on Friday, April 26th. The first stage of voting took place on April 19th.
“Five years ago, the question was why isn’t Mr. Modi reigning supreme as the voice of extremism? Now, PM Modi is the most radical activist,” Ali said.
In his speech, Prime Minister Modi said he referred to the parliamentary election manifesto and past statements by opposition parties that promised to redistribute wealth amid growing concerns about inequality.
“When are they [the Congress] They argued that Muslims had the first right to resources. They will collect all your wealth and distribute it to people who have more children,” PM Modi said.
In 2006, then Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that India’s traditionally marginalized communities, including caste and religious minorities, “particularly Muslims” who have faced historical discrimination, would receive the first access to the country’s resources. He said they should claim their rights. Singh’s comments follow a report by a government-appointed committee under a former judge that found the social, economic and educational conditions of Muslims in India to be the worst of any caste or community. It was something I received.
Some analysts and ordinary Muslims have said Mr. Modi’s comments could incite hate-filled violence against Muslims, an issue that has persisted under the current government’s decade-long rule. is rapidly increasing.
“While the prime minister may have made this comment as a tirade against Congress, it will ultimately serve to further perpetuate the stereotype that Muslims are a problem and not a benefit to India,” the journalist said. Zeyad Masroor Khan, author of “City on Fire.” A book about the anti-Muslim riots that occurred in Aligarh, northern Uttar Pradesh. Such comments “could even encourage acts of violence against Muslims,” he said.
Mr Khan said the change in campaign message “reveals Mr Modi’s true nature”.
Sandeep Shastri, national coordinator of the New Delhi-based Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) research program Lokniti Network, said PM Modi’s statement was a gaffe and not a conscious change in election strategy. He said he hoped that. According to a CSDS poll, the Bharatiya Janata Party has a 12% vote margin over the main opposition coalition.
“Given the situation on the ground, I do not think Prime Minister Modi’s rash actions are justified,” Shastri said, adding that he was personally “disappointed” by the statement. Referring to Modi’s claim that he would “work for all Indians” after his 2019 election victory, Shastri said, “It could have been an unconscious remark. The impatience of the moment and the campaign “It came out amidst the excitement of…” he added. Against this backdrop, he said, comments like Sunday’s are “best avoided.”
“If that’s the intention the speech suggests, that’s a very worrying situation.”
“I’m scared to go to the market.”
Ashfaq Hussain, 35, a contractor from Rajasthan, is not waiting for a clarification from Prime Minister Modi or the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday’s comments. He said he had seen enough.
Hussain was sitting with his teenage son when a snippet of PM Modi’s speech appeared on his smartphone. He quickly scrolled through his feed, he said. “Our prime minister is using words like ‘intruders’ against us. It’s embarrassing and heartbreaking,” he told Al Jazeera.
Rajasthan has seen a spate of anti-Muslim hate crimes, including lynchings, in recent years.
“[Modi’s speech] It puts my family’s safety at risk and further divides society by erasing historic brotherhood. ”
“It’s also scary to go to the market alone in the evening. People swear at me, try to incite me, and it could turn into a lynching at any time,” Hussein said.
BJP national spokesperson Zafar Islam said PM Modi’s comments were misinterpreted.
“We need to understand this in the right context. Earlier, many people came from outside and now they are integrating into society and exploiting its resources,” he said, adding that PM Modi was referring to “infiltrators”. However, he suggested that he was referring to foreigners living in India illegally, rather than Indian Muslims. .
It argued that India’s Muslims were benefiting from government programs under Modi and that opposition parties were relying on intimidation to get religious minorities to vote.
But Nationalist Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said Mr Modi’s “hate speech” was a “deliberate ploy to divert attention”.
Political commentator Ali agreed. Opponents focus on the need for a caste census to enumerate the population of India’s various castes. Congress argues that this shows how disadvantaged castes have been denied adequate affirmative action. “The political textbook is that to cater to the opposition, you need a scapegoat. And for the Bharatiya Janata Party, that was Muslims,” he said.
Ali said the speech was also alarming as PM Modi tried to portray Muslims as dangerous to the very identity of Hindus.
“The Mangalsutra is considered sacred. This was a deep psychological attack that gave Muslims the feeling that they were endangering your personal home space,” Ali said.
“These are very dangerous times for Indian politics.”
