India’s biggest opposing party said Prime Minister Narendra Modi made hateful comments by calling Muslims “infiltrators. ” This happened during the general election, and it was one of his most provocative statements about the minority religion.
The comments made at a campaign rally on Sunday were strongly criticized for being anti-Muslim. The Congress party complained to the Election Commission of India on Monday, saying that he broke the rules that prohibit candidates from doing things that make people of different religions upset.
People who disagree with the prime minister, who strongly supports Hindu beliefs, say that India’s history of being a diverse and secular country has been in danger since his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, gained power ten years ago. They say the party promotes unfair treatment of people with different religions and sometimes even encourages fighting. The party says it didn’t do what it’s accused of and that its plans help all people in India.
During a rally in Rajasthan, Modi said that when the Congress party was in charge, they believed that Muslims should have the first claim to the country’s resources. He also said that if the party comes back into power, they will take everyone’s money and give it to people with lots of children. The crowd cheered as he said this.
“They will give it to people who came in secretly,” he said. “Do you want your money to go to them. ”
Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the leader of the Congress party, said that the prime minister’s comments were full of hate. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who speaks for the party, also said that the comments were very objectionable.
The party asked the election commission for help because their rules say candidates can’t try to get votes by talking about people’s race or religion. People started voting on Friday in a six-week election. Most surveys show that Modi and his party, the Hindu nationalist BJP, are likely to win. The results will be available on June 4.
Asaduddin Owaidi, a Muslim politician and leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen party, said on Sunday: “Since 2002 till now, the only thing Modi has promised is to insult Muslims and win votes. ”
For a while, there have been problems between India’s main Hindu group and Muslims. But now, rights groups say that attacks on minorities have become more bold since Modi became the leader.
Muslims have been attacked and killed by groups of Hindus because they were accused of eating beef or trading cows, which are sacred animals to Hindus. Muslim businesses have been avoided, their homes and businesses have been knocked down and places of worship set on fire. People are asking for them to be killed.
Modi mentioned a statement from 2006 made by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress party. Singh said that all people in India, including those in lower castes, tribes, women, and especially the Muslim minority, should have an equal part in the country’s progress.
“Singh said they should get the resources first. ” The next day, his office explained that Singh was talking about all the people who have disadvantages.
The Congress party asked the election commission to stop Modi and the BJP from using religion and religious symbols in their election campaigns. The commission has not punished the prime minister and the BJP for breaking electoral laws, which has made these actions even stronger.
“In India’s history, no prime minister has brought down the respect of his position as much as Modi has,” Kharge, who is the president of Congress, wrote on the social media platform X.
The commission can give warnings and stop candidates for a while if they break the rules.
A representative for the commission said they don’t want to comment.
In his speech, Modi said that Muslims were having more children than Hindus, which is a common idea among Hindu nationalists. 80 out of every 100 people in India are Hindus, while 14 out of every 100 are Muslims. The number of children born to Muslim families has gone down the most compared to other religious groups in the past few years. In 1992-93, the average Muslim family had 4. 4 children, but by 2019-21, it went down to 2. 3This is just slightly more than the average number of children in Hindu families, which is 1. 94
Modi’s party BJP has said that Muslims who came to India from Bangladesh and Pakistan are illegal immigrants. Some states ruled by the BJP have made laws to stop people from different religions marrying each other. They say it’s because of an idea called “love jihad,” which says Muslim men marry Hindu women to convert them to Islam. But there’s no proof of this happening.
Throughout everything, Modi has mostly kept quiet. Critics say this has made some of his most extreme supporters feel more confident and has allowed more hate speech against Muslims.