By Mr S.N SAHU
Prime Minister Modi has again – and in a very calculated manner – stated a falsehood in his election campaign speech in Rajasthan’s Banswara – that the Opposition plans to hand over the “mangalsutras” and “land” of those listening to his speech to “infiltrators” and those “producing more children”. The target of Modi’s outrageous statement were Muslims. What he said amounts to hate speech. His aim is to polarise voters and cause division among people along religious lines so that the BJP benefits electorally.
electorally.ADVERTISEMENTModi also twisted an 18-year old speech by Manmohan Singh, who, as prime minister, had called for the equitable distribution of resources of the country among the underprivileged and deprived including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, children, women and minorities. Modi gave a spin to that statement of Singh 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, bhi will distribute it to the infiltrators. Will the money of your hard work be given to the infiltrators? Do you approve of this?”
In a similar vein, BJP supporters are circulating a carefully edited Rahul Gandhi speech where his call for justice for Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and minorities is presented as a demand for Muslims alone.
There is no parallel in the post-independence period of a prime minister making blatantly discriminatory references to Muslims in election speeches. Of course, Modi is a repeat offender. Earlier this month, he said that there is an “imprint” of the Muslim League in the Congress’s election manifesto.” And in 2019, too, he made offensive remarks.
Swami Vivekananda, whom Modi hails as his role model, warned about the consequences of politicians spreading lies at election time. Writing in the late 19th century (the article was titled “East and West”), he indicted the vote politics of Europe where he found that “whatever only a handful of powerful men dictate becomes the fait accompli; the rest of the men only follow like a flock of sheep,,.” “I have seen your Parliament, your Senate, your vote, majority, ballot,” Vivekananda wrote, adding, “….it is the same thing everywhere, my friend. The powerful men in every country are moving society whatever way they like, and the rest are only like a flock of sheep”.
He observed that in Europe “…a class of people …in the name of politics, rob others and fatten themselves by sucking the very life-blood of the masses….” Vivekananda bemoaned: “If you ever saw, my friend, that shocking sight behind the scene of acting of these politicians — that revelry of bribery, that robbery in broad daylight, that dance of the Devil in man, which are practiced on such occasions — you would be hopeless about man”! … They that have money have kept the government of the land under their thumb, are robbing the people….” With a sigh he observed, “This is politics! Don’t be startled, my friend; don’t be lost in its mazes”.
