NEW DELHI, Aug 14: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi “made Islamophobic remarks” in 110 out of the 173 speeches he delivered during the recent Lok Sabha election campaign, according to an analysis conducted by the Human Rights Watch.
Violence against religious minorities has also continued since the election, said the HRW report released on Wednesday pointing to the deaths of 12 Muslim men and a Christian woman in 28 reported attacks across the country.
The report, titled “India: Hate Speech Fuelled Modi’s Election Campaign” analysed all of Mr Modi’s speeches after the Model Code of Conduct was put in place for the parliamentary poll. The Code forbids appealing to “communal feelings for securing votes.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2024 electoral campaign frequently used hate speech against Muslims and other minorities,” the global rights body said in a statement. “The leadership of Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) repeatedly made statements inciting discrimination, hostility, and violence against marginalized groups during his campaign to win his third consecutive term of office, which began on June 9.”
The Islamophobic remarks in Mr Modi’s speeches were “apparently intended to undermine the political opposition, which he said only promoted Muslim rights, and to foster fear among the majority Hindu community through disinformation,” the HRW said.
It added that several BJP-led governments have demolished Muslims’ homes, businesses, and places of worship “without due process” and “carried out other unlawful practices”, all of which have continued since the election.
“Indian Prime Minister Modi and BJP leaders made blatantly false claims in their campaign speeches against Muslims and other minority groups,” said Elaine Pearson, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These inflammatory speeches, amid a decade of attacks and discrimination against minorities under the Modi administration, have further normalised abuses against Muslims, Christians, and others,” she added.
(Manas Dasgupta)