Saturday | 5 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Saturday | 5 October 2024 | Epaper
BREAKING: ● Ex-president Badruddoza Chowdhury passes away      ● Killing during students' movement: 9 bodies to be exhumed in Sylhet      ● Malaysian prime minister leaves Dhaka for home      ● CA seeks Malaysian support for Bangladesh to be ASEAN dialogue partner      ● Malaysian PM assures of attention to 18,000 Bangladesh workers       ● Bid to kill Khaleda Zia: Sheikh Hasina among 113 sued      ● Thundershowers with 60 km/h wind likely to hit 17 regions      

Modi accused of targeting Muslims in election speech

Published : Tuesday, 23 April, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 329
NEW DELHI, Apr 22: Indias main opposition Congress party filed a complaint to the Election Commission Monday accusing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "blatantly targeting" minority Muslims in a campaign speech.

The worlds most populous country is constitutionally secular and its election code bans canvassing based on "communal feelings".

Modis muscular Hindu-first politics is a key part of his electoral appeal and his opponents accuse him of marginalising Indias 200 million Muslim population.

The prime minister usually steers away from explicit references to religion -- the word "Hindu" does not appear in his Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) 76-page election manifesto.

But at a weekend election rally in Rajasthan, Modi claimed a previous Congress government had said that "Muslims have the first right over the nations wealth".

He said if Congress won "it will be distributed among those who have more children. It will be distributed to the infiltrators."

"Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators? Would you accept this?"
Critics said the phrases were references to Muslims.

In its complaint to the Election Commission, the Congress party said the "divisive, objectionable and malicious" comments were targeted at "a particular religious community" and amounted to "blatant and direct violations of electoral laws".

They were "far worse than any ever made by a sitting Prime Minister in the history of India", the complaint said.

Congress party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters outside the Commissions office: "We hope concrete action will be taken."

Modi and the BJP are widely expected to coast to victory in Indias marathon elections, which began last Friday and with the results due on June 4.

Earlier this year, Modi presided over the inauguration of a grand temple to the deity Ram, built on the site of a centuries-old mosque razed by Hindu zealots.

The BJP has frequently invoked the temple on the campaign trail.

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters Monday that Modi was calling "a spade a spade" and his remarks resonated with what people thought.     —AFP



LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Maldives leader heads to India to repair frail ties 
US, India to cooperate on critical minerals 
Erdogan lashes out at Israel for attack on UN chief 
WHO hopes to start Gaza polio vaccination second round on Oct 14 
Lebanon receives first UN aid plane since Israel escalation 
Khamenei says Israel will not defeat Iran as strikes pummelled Lebanon 
Kim threatens to use nukes if attacked 
Biden says does not believe there will be ‘all-out war’ in ME 
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝