NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s main opposition party has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of hate speech after he called Muslims “infiltrators”. His most incendiary remarks about the minority faith came days after the country began its Muslim religious reform. Weeks of general elections.
Remarks at campaign rally On Sunday, Prime Minister Modi came under heavy criticism for spreading anti-Muslim tropes. The Congress party on Monday filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India for violating rules that prohibit candidates from engaging in any activities that escalate religious tensions.
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people who criticize the prime minister avowed hindu nationalist — says India’s traditions of diversity and secularism have been under attack since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power a decade ago. They accuse the party of promoting religious intolerance and sometimes even violence. The party denies the charges and says its policies benefit all Indians.
Speaking at a rally in Rajasthan, Prime Minister Modi said that when the Congress party was in power, “they used to say that Muslims have the first right to the country’s resources.” If his party returns to power, it will “collect all the wealth and distribute it to people who have more children,” he said as the crowd applauded.
“They’ll distribute it to the infiltrators,” he continued, “do you think your hard-earned money should be given to the infiltrators?”
Nationalist Congress party leader Mallikarjun Kharge described the prime minister’s remarks as “hate speech”, while party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it was “extremely, extremely disgusting”.
The party sought action from the Election Commission, whose code of conduct prohibits candidates from appealing to “caste or communal sentiments” to secure votes. Most polls predict a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in the first round of voting on Friday in the six-week election. The results will be known on June 4th.
Asaduddin Owaidi, a Muslim lawmaker and leader of the All India Majlis-ul-Muslim Party, said on Sunday: “Since 2002 till date, Modi’s only guarantee is that he will mistreat Muslims and lose their votes.” It’s about getting it.”
There have long been tensions between India’s majority Hindu community and Muslims, but rights groups say attacks against minorities have become bolder under Modi’s government.
Muslims have until now lynching by hindu mob He was accused of eating and smuggling cows, which are considered sacred animals to Hindus. Muslim businesses are boycotted; Homes and businesses were destroyed by bulldozers and a place of worship is set on fire.There was a public recruitment for their slaughter.
Mr. Modi’s remarks were in reference to a 2006 statement by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress party. Singh said India’s lower castes, tribes, women and “particularly Muslim minorities” have the right to participate equally in the country’s development.
“They have to claim first rights to the resources,” Singh said. The next day, his office clarified that Mr. Singh was referring to the entire underprivileged group.
In a petition to the Election Commission, the Congress party said that Prime Minister Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party have repeatedly used religion, religious symbols and sentiments in election campaigns with impunity. . “These measures were further strengthened by the commission’s inaction to punish the Prime Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party for blatant violations of election laws,” the commission said.
“No prime minister in the history of India has degraded his post as much as Prime Minister Modi,” Congress leader Kharge said on social media platform X.
The committee can issue a warning or suspend a candidate for a period of time for violating the code of conduct.
A spokesperson for the commission told the Press Trust of India news agency on Monday: “We decline to comment.”
In his speech, PM Modi also repeated the Hindu nationalist metaphor that Muslims are overtaking the Hindu population by having more children. Hindus make up 80% of India’s 1.4 billion population, while 14% of India’s 200 million people are Muslims. According to official data, the birth rate among Muslims has fallen the fastest of any religious group in recent decades, from 4.4 in 1992-93 to 2.3 in 2019-21, just behind Hindus’ 1.94. Exceeds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has long called Muslims infiltrators and characterized them as illegal immigrants who came to India from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Several BJP-run states have also enacted laws restricting interfaith marriages, citing unproven conspiracy theories. love holy war”, alleging that Muslim men are using marriage to convert Hindu women.
All the while, Mr. Modi has remained silent, which critics say has emboldened some of his most extreme supporters and led to more hate speech against Muslims.
