Human Rights Watch says Modi made more than 100 Islamophobic comments in election campaign
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has published a report according to which, during the recent general election, Narendra Modi called Muslims ‘anti-India’ and ‘lesser-ape’ during more than 100 campaign speeches. This paper focuses on the somewhat problematic aspect of the incendiary speech made by Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, who was seeking re-election for a third term.
For its part, Human Rights Watch recorded that, of 173 campaign speeches delivered by Modi, at least 110 were peppered with hate speech against Muslims and other minorities. The survey, conducted by the organization and issued on Wednesday, reveals the extent of the effects of such abuse on the people of India.
Speaking to Quartz, Elaine Pearson, the Asia director at HERE, who provided quotes for this story, underscores the practical implications of Modi’s speeches. “The hate speech rhetoric by the Indian leader does not live in the rhetoric; it is in the reality of those who have had their homes demolished, those who have been physically attacked in some cases, and indeed, those who have been killed,” Pearson told The Independent.
Muslim population India stands as the third largest Muslim-populated country with an estimated 200 million Muslims and a share of one-seventh of the total one billion in the country. 42 billion people. This report by HRW seeks to accuse Modi of encouraging the spreading of falsehoods regarding Muslims and other minorities while denying minorities fair treatment for the past decade.
Of all the sources the report uses, the author quotes several of Modi’s speeches. In May 2024, Modi was claimed to have accused the Indian National Congress, the main opposition party, of ‘looting’ and ‘reallocating’ India’s riches to Muslims without substantiation. To this, HRW also reveals that Modi time and again referred to Muslims as ‘infiltrators,’ implying that because Muslims tended to give birth to more children than Hindus, they were a threat to the dominant demography among Indians.
Crass vote appeal and religious intolerance became jarring characteristics of Modi’s campaign. There are unconfirmed reports of him making false claims about the Congress party’s direct agenda of distributing the country’s wealth on the basis of religion. Such statements elicited negative reactions from the political leadership and other opinion makers, who demanded that Modi’s campaign be shut down.
Nevertheless, Modi got an opportunity to rule the country for a third term in light of the controversies above. However, his Hindu nationalist party suffered and lost its majority in the center; the party barely allied. One of the most aggressive speeches that Modi delivered during the campaign was performed on May 14 in Jharkhand when he stated that ‘idols of our gods are being destroyed’ and cited the Muslims posing a danger to Hindu women.
On May 7, Modi continued to accuse Congress of indulging in favoring Muslims in sports, including appointments to positions such as setting up a cricket team. Thus, as much as hate speech in the context of elections has not been an exception to India, Modi’s engagement is a step ahead.
Pearson points out that Modi’s position is much more conspicuous and, therefore, his provocative speeches are more threatening. “What is new and different this time is the fact that it is the prime minister himself who has made these inflammatory speeches,” she said. “It is really dangerous when you have someone who is in such a position of power and authority normalising hate speech as well as giving emerging obviously false information. ”
Pearsons states that this sort of behavior could be better for India or other regions that may, in the future, fall under the scrutiny of the global agency. “We get to witness politicians around the globe villainizing minorities, but it does not go as far as a leader of a country spewing falsehoods and mere hatred,” said she.
The Modi administration has dismissed the accusations, emphasizing that his measures are pro-Heartland and not anti-Muslim or/and anti-Christian. The BJP has yet to respond to this alert from HRW. Pearson wanted the Indian government to take action on hate speeches and protect minority groups and said: “Many of these speeches are available on the website of Mr Modi. Some of these speeches mentioned above are available on my website, and therefore, to claim that there has been no effort to fan religious hate is totally false.
Pearson demanded specific measures to protect the rights of religious minorities and to punish the authors of hate speeches. “Those words have consequences,” Khalida added, referring to the minorities’ attacks, killings, and demolishing of homes, and said, “We are appealing to the Indian government to take measures to safeguard minorities in religious matters and curb hate speech by politicians.
