New Delhi: A day after his hate speech against Muslims during a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara drew severe flak online and criticism from the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, April 21, sought to speak in a tone that was different from Sunday, as if to convey that he was making an outreach to the community during a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh.
Modi cited the enactment of a law against instant triple talaq and an increase in the Haj quotas as beneficial moves made by his government keeping in mind the interests of the community.
“In this area, the lives of many daughters who were victims of triple talaq were ruined and not only the daughters, but due to triple talaq, the daughter, her father, brother and family all got troubled. Now Modi has also secured their lives by making a law against triple talaq,” he said in Aligarh, which is a home to sizeable Muslim population.
On Haj quotas, he said, “Earlier, due to less Haj quota, there used to be a lot of fighting and bribery was also prevalent there and only the influential people would get the chance to go to Haj. I had requested the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to increase the Haj quota for our Muslim brothers and sisters in India. Today, not only has India’s Haj quota increased but visa rules have also been made easier. The government took a very important decision. Earlier, our Muslim mothers and sisters could not go alone for Haj. The government also allowed women to go for Haj without ‘Mehram’ and I am being blessed by thousands of sisters whose dream of going for Haj has been fulfilled.”
In the same breath, he hit out at Congress and the Samajwadi Party, accusing them of “appeasement politics”, while claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party is concerned about the plight of Pasmanda (backward) Muslims.
“Parties like Congress and SP have always done appeasement politics and have never done anything for the political, social and economic upliftment of Muslims. When I discuss the plight of Pasmanda Muslims, ‘inke baal khade ho jate hai kyuki upar ke logon ne malai khai hai‘ and they have forced the Pasmanda Muslims to live in the same condition,” he said.
Repeating his attack on “redistribution”, a word lifted from the Congress’s Nyay manifesto, Modi said people should be “alert” about Congress’s intentions, saying that the party wants to loot people in the name of redistribution. “If you own two homes, it will snatch one – the Congress will go that far,” he said. “This is Maoist thinking… this is communist thinking. By doing this they have ruined so many countries. Now the Congress and the INDI Alliance want to implement the same policy in India.”
Analysts have pointed out that Modi’s remarks on the Congress manifesto have ended up publicising it well amongst sections so far unmindful and unfamiliar with its proposals on social welfare.
