Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused by the opposition of making Islamophobic remarks after claiming that his opponents would hand over people’s wealth to “infiltrators” if they came to power.
Modi reportedly told a rally that the opposition Congress wanted to distribute wealth to “those who have a lot of children” British Broadcasting Corporation.
His remarks were widely believed to have been a reference to India’s Muslim minority.
The Congress party, on the other hand, rejected the claim just days into the general election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has often been accused of discriminating against India’s minorities, especially Muslims.
This was confirmed by human rights groups, who said they faced discrimination and attacks and were forced to live as “second-class” citizens under Modi’s rule. The BJP, however, denies the allegations.
On April 19, the first of seven phases of the general election was held. It is worth noting that the results will be announced on June 4.
Modi made the remarks while speaking about the Congress party’s manifesto at an election rally in Rajasthan on Sunday.
He claimed that the manifesto said the gold traditionally stored by Indian women would be “taken inventory” and redistributed.
“And their previous [Congress] The government has said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the country,” PM Modi claimed.
“This means they [the Congress] To whom will people’s wealth be collected and distributed? ” he asked the audience.
“To those who have more children. To the infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to the infiltrators?” he added, referring to a 2006 speech by Manmohan Singh.
