‘Infiltrators’: Modi accused of targeting Muslims in election speech

Modi claims a previous Congress government had said that 'Muslims have the first right over the nation's wealth'


AFP April 22, 2024
India's Prime Minister Modi delivers a speech as he attends an election campaign at Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, April 20, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS

India's main opposition Congress party filed a complaint to the Election Commission Monday accusing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "blatantly targeting" minority Muslims in a campaign speech.

The world's most populous country is constitutionally secular and its election code bans canvassing based on "communal feelings".

Modi's muscular Hindu-first politics is a key part of his electoral appeal and his opponents accuse him of marginalising India's 200 million Muslim population.

The prime minister usually steers away from explicit references to religion -- the word "Hindu" does not appear in his Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 76-page election manifesto.

But at a weekend election rally in Rajasthan, Modi claimed a previous Congress government had said that "Muslims have the first right over the nation's wealth".

Read also: Muslims face dwindling representation in Modi's India

He said if Congress won "it will be distributed among those who have more children. It will be distributed to the infiltrators."

"Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators? Would you accept this?"

Critics said the phrases were references to Muslims.

In its complaint to the Election Commission, the Congress party said the "divisive, objectionable and malicious" comments were targeted at "a particular religious community" and amounted to "blatant and direct violations of electoral laws".

They were "far worse than any ever made by a sitting Prime Minister in the history of India", the complaint said.

Read: India votes in gigantic election dominated by jobs, Hindu pride and Modi

Congress party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters outside the Commission's office: "We hope concrete action will be taken."

Modi and the BJP are widely expected to coast to victory in India's marathon elections, which began last Friday and with the results due on June 4.

Earlier this year, Modi presided over the inauguration of a grand temple to the deity Ram, built on the site of a centuries-old mosque razed by Hindu zealots.

The BJP has frequently invoked the temple on the campaign trail.

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters Monday that Modi was calling "a spade a spade" and his remarks resonated with what people thought.

COMMENTS (1)

Rebirth | 6 months ago | Reply Congress doesn t represent the vast majority of the Muslims of India. Only Muslim politicians and leaders should have that right. Using these statements to depict Congress as a party that represents Muslims and their interests is the kind of Nehruvian deception that existed back in the 1940s and has been ongoing in India ever since. If Hindus only vote for Hindus why should Muslims vote for anyone else and be expected to be secular when the majoritarians are not
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