Modi wants to turn India’s election into a Hindu-Muslim war
Al JazeeraIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have decided that they will contest this seven-phase national election as champions of Hindu interests. On Sunday, the prime minister told a rally in Rajasthan that if the opposition comes to power, it will take Hindus’ wealth and give it to those “who have more children”, clearly referring to Muslims. On Tuesday, in his address at another election rally in Rajasthan, Modi once again claimed that the Congress was conspiring to take the wealth of Hindus and distribute it among “select” people. In Sunday’s speech, Modi directly referred to Muslims as “those who produce more children” and “infiltrators”, evoking a sinister conspiracy theory that the Muslims are outsiders and aim to outnumber the Hindu majority. The prime minister is clearly playing a dangerous game, turning the election into a war between Hindus and Muslims, and the BJP is openly calling itself the party of Hindus.