New Delhi: Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nasty election speech in Rajasthan's Banswara has triggered a nationwide controversy, the Election Commission has so far not taken any action. Meanwhile the Opposition bloc INDIA called the speech an attempt to divert attention from "real issues".
Addressing the people Banswara, on April 21, (Sunday) Modi openly attacked India’s Muslims, suggesting they were “infiltrators” and went on to claim that the opposition if elected would give away “mangalsutras” and “land” of those listening to his speech to them (Muslims).
He referred to his immediate predecessor, Dr Manmohan Singh who was in office for 10 years as prime minister till 2014, and said, “Earlier, when his government was in power, he had said that Muslims have the first right on the country’s property, which means who will they collect this property and distribute it to – those who have more children, will distribute it to the infiltrators. Will the money of your hard work be given to the infiltrators? Do you approve of this?”
Modi went on to say, “This Congress manifesto is saying that they will calculate the gold of the mothers and sisters, get information about it and then distribute it. Manmohan Singh’s government had said that Muslims have the first right on property. Brothers and sisters, these urban Naxal thoughts will not let even your mangalsutra escape, they will go this far.”
Narendra Modi and the BJP so far in their campaign trail have invoked religious faith, the Ram temple and Lord Ram multiple times, directly using it to call for people to vote for them. The Election Commission has been completely silent on the messaging via videos, tweets and other exhortations.
Did Manmohan Singh really say that?
Modi’s claim that Dr Singh said that is not new and was refuted in 2006 itself by Singh’s PMO, when Modi had first made the false claim. The PMO had termed such remarks, “a deliberate and mischievous misinterpretation of what the Prime Minister said here yesterday at the meeting of the National Development Council, on fiscal priorities of the government.” It was termed “an avoidable controversy has been generated. The Prime Minister’s observations have also been quoted out of context in some sections of the electronic media, fuelling a baseless controversy.”
The full text of the paragraph in which the Prime Minister referred to the issue of minority empowerment to clarify the matter is as follows:
“I believe our collective priorities are clear: agriculture, irrigation and water resources, health, education, critical investment in rural infrastructure, and the essential public investment needs of general infrastructure, along with programmes for the upliftment of SC/STs, other backward classes, minorities and women and children. The component plans for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will need to be revitalized. We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources. The Centre has a myriad other responsibilities whose demands will have to be fitted within the over-all resource availability.”
The PMO’s clarification said. “it will be seen from the above that the Prime Minister’s reference to “first claim on resources” refers to all the “priority” areas listed above, including programmes for the upliftment of SCs, STs, OBCs, women and children and minorities.
Opposition reacts
Chairman, Media and Publicity department of the Congress, Pawan Khera said in a video message in a post, “We challenge the Prime Minister to show us if the word Hindu or Muslim is written anywhere in our manifesto. This kind of lightness is there in your mentality, in your political values. We have talked about justice for the youth, women, farmers, tribals, middle class and workers. Do you object to this as well?”
Khera was referring to earlier mistruths uttered by Modi about the “Muslim League” having influenced the Congress manifesto.
In Jharkhand’s Ranchi at an opposition rally, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is reported to have said by BBC Hindi, “If democracy and the Constitution end in the country, then the people will have nothing left. Babasaheb Ambedkar ji and Jawaharlal Nehru ji gave equal voting rights to everyone, due to which all classes got respect. But Narendra Modi wants to snatch their rights from the poor.”
B.V. Srinivas termed it as unfortunate that “this person is the Prime Minister of this country, and an even bigger tragedy is that the Election Commission of India is no longer alive.” He said that “due to the frustration of impending defeat, the Prime Minister of India is openly sowing the seeds of hatred, he is polarising by misquoting Manmohan Singh’s 18-year-old incomplete statement, But the Election Commission (Modi ka parivar) is bowing down.”
Modi’s past hate-speech
Modi, in his 12-year tenure as chief minister of Gujarat was known to have made speeches targeting the state’s minority Muslim community brazenly, terming camps where Muslims were forced to stay in after communal violence gripped the state in 2002. Frontline covered him on his Gujarat Gaurav Yatra started shortly after the violence, at a rally at Becharaji in Mehsana district in northern Gujarat, when he said, “What should we do? Run relief camps for them? Do we want to open baby-producing centres? But for certain people that means hum paanch, hamare pachees.”
In 2017 it was time again for direct speech targeting Muslims when in February he spoke of ‘shamshaan versus kabristan’ campaigning for UP and then for Gujarat elections when the BJP had its worst performance this millennium, in a speech at Palanpur on December 10, 2017 Modi invoked a “secret meeting” to get Pakistan to fix Gujarat’s assembly polls. He said that a meeting was held at Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s residence, attended by former PM Manmohan Singh, former Vice-President Hamid Ansari, former Army Chief Deepak Kapoor and distinguished diplomats to execute the plot. Modi’s PMO faced embarrassment when in response to an RTI filed by the Congress, his office was forced to say that Modi’s campaign speech could have been based on an “informal input”.
In the only question he has answered as part of a press conference with Joe Biden on June 22, 2023, Modi was asked, “India has long prided itself as the world’s largest democracy, but there are many human rights groups who say that your government has discriminated against religious minorities and sought to silence its critics. As you stand here in the East Room of the White House, where so many world leaders have made commitments to protecting democracy, what steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and to uphold free speech?”
In response Modi appeared visibly frazzled and denied all charges. “I’m actually really surprised that people say so. And so, people don’t say it. Indeed, India is a democracy.”
The journalist was trolled online by BJP leaders and supporters to such an extent that the White House had to come out and defend her and strongly denounce the trolling and abuse.
Comments
how many people embraced islam during the exhibition period. Just wait and watch
My suggestion to right people.. DO NOT Entertainment the guy \ VIREN KOTIAN MUMBAI\"
No correct point in his comment, he simply provoke the muslim from his non sense comment thats it.. \"KESIRIGE KALLU HAKUVUDU OLLEYADALLAH\""
All is paid drama...Everyone knows about this after media exposed Zakir naik shows...
Really a great program, each and every slides are supported with Quran and hadees, may allah bless us with his grace to understand what the real life is and who is the real creator of the world and and the purpose of creations
Barakallah feek, may allah rewards the organisers
Naren.. ninna ajji bedi..!!! Sumne bai banda haage bogala bedi..!!
Ma sha Allah....well organised ksa group by the grace Almighty Allah...True message of holy Quraan, and about islam towards people to know the real true messages...
Hope most of all people got advantages of program.
May Allah give us more and more to get knowledge of true message of Quran..Aameen
mr. viren kotian, you have missed this golden opportunity to understand islam, instead of posting harsh, rude words here and in social media about islam, u should have been attend this wonderful programme.
may allah guide mr. viren kotian to the right path. aameen.
only dua can change a life. if allah wills.
Very Well organized and maintained. Good to see such programs in future. Keep coastal on peace by organizing such programs which benefit all religions.
Please ignore the guy filled with dung. He needs lot of mental patience.
Dear Althaf, i hope you would have given good statement acceptable to everyone. You should not pin point any one or any organisation. I am not happy with your statement. May Allah bless you with right way of thinking.
Thank you so much for excellent analysis on the Islamic exhibition. This kind of impartial reports should keep appearing on coastaldigest.com.
Viren
Wake up man.. Even indian media could not prove that Dr.Zakir naik is inspiring youths to join ISIS then how can you prove that. If you have proof of this then go and submit to indian government so that they can take action instead barking here.
One more thing if my allah decide something to happen then it will happen no one in this earth can stop that,... Again no one..
Good job going around mangalore.....
Naren you ate a lot of chillis....that is why....
@ Viren
This was supposed to happen and many goods things will happen...
They plan but God is the best planner..
The more you put obstacle.. the better people will be curious about islam..
Finally i want to dedicate
Mashaa allah / Good Work /from KSA team , Mangalore
i really appreciate.................
Jazak Allah Khair
Masha Allha great work from KSA. and its benifit to all not only muslim non muslim also.we need to give clear islam to the world.
Salafis are the ones who had tried to bring Zakri Naik ( who inspired youths to join ISIS) to Mangalore. Now they are trying to say Islam and ISIS is different. They are fooling people. What they are doing is missionary job. How did mangalore police allow this to happen?
If U depend on false media information about islam and Muslims... Many will lose in knowing the reality of LIFE which the CREATOR has given us... to know the TRUTH about life , we should look into the Source... everything will be cleared when we take the knowledge from the original source...
Non MUslims should atleast read one time \the QURAN\" once in their lifetime at the earliest... to know what islam says about LIFE on this earth and the hereafter .... God can give us LIFE again after death, the way he had given us first time... its simple for him... (Praise b to God alone)"
I really appreciate the hard work of KSA for spreading the true message of islam to non muslims. I also believe that all of mangaloreans had attended the exhibition except soofis and so called sunnis and SSF
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