Modi’s comment on Muslims to voters called ‘hate speech’
NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called Muslims “infiltrators” who would take India’s wealth if his opponents gained power — unusually direct and divisive language from a leader who normally lets others do the dirtiest work of polarizing Hindus against Muslims.
Modi, addressing voters in the state of raj as than, referred to a remark once made by Manmohan Singh, his predecessor from the opposition Indian National Congress Party. Singh, Modi claimed, had “said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators.”
Modi aimed his emotional appeal at women, addressing “my mothers and sisters” to say that his Congress opponents would take their gold and give it to Muslims.
Implications like these — that Muslims have too many babies, that they are coming for Hindus’ wives and daughters, that their nationality as Indian is itself in doubt — are often made by representatives of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP.
Modi’s use of such language himself, as he campaigns for a third term in office, raised alarm that it could inflame right-wing vigilantes who target Muslims, and brought up questions about what had prompted his shift in communication style. Usually, Modi avoids even using the word “Muslims,” coyly finding ways to refer indirectly to India’s largest minority group, of 200 million people.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, called Modi’s remarks “hate speech.” Asaduddin Owaisi, who represents the only national party for muslims, lamented how “common Hindus are made to fear Muslims while their wealth is being used to en rich others .”
Tom Vadakkan, a spokesperson for the BJP, said that Modi’s speech was being misinterpreted. “This is not about our compatriots, the Muslims,” he said. Modi was talking only about “infiltrators,” according to Vadakkan.
The prime minister’s fiery oration, delivered in 100-degree heat in the town of Banswara in arid Rajasthan, marked a contrast to the image he presents in international contexts.
During a visit to the White House in June, Modi said there was “no question of discrimination” in India. When he hosted the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi three months later, he chose the theme “the world is one family” (in Sanskrit, the primary liturgical language of orthodox Hinduism).
Campaigns that divide Hindus and Muslims can be useful in animating the hardright Hindu base of Modi’s otherwise broad-based electorate, especially in places like Banswara, where Hindus outnumber Muslims 3-to-1.
The BJP remains the favorite to win another parliamentary majority when six weeks of voting concludes june 1 and ballots are counted three days later. Kharge, the Congress party president, called Modi’s speech—perhapshopefully— a sign of desperation.