The Indian PM may still be in a strong position; but incendiary, anti-Muslim rhetoric shows that all may not be going to plan, says writer Salil Tripathi
The Indian PM may still be in a strong position; but incendiary, anti-Muslim rhetoric shows that all may not be going to planran for prime minister for the first time in 2014, his overriding aim was to convince voters that he was a different man – no longer the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, where, under his watch, more than 1,000 people were massacred in a communal pogrom in 2002.
Singh had identified agriculture, irrigation, water resources, health, education and critical investment in rural infrastructure as priorities, and added that marginalised communities – including women, children, Dalits and minorities, “particularly” the Muslim minority – should be “empowered to share equitably” in the fruits of development. By saying “particularly” the Muslims, he gave an opportunity to his critics to say that he was singling out Muslims for preferential treatment.
Driven primarily by cynical electoral calculations, Modi’s speech aimed to scare voters into thinking that a Congress government would be after their wealth. Modi added that he would protect India’s “mothers and sisters” whose wealth was in danger, singling out the coveted mangalsutra that married women wear to indicate their marital status.
This is not dog-whistle politics, its meaning is audible to all Indians. It feeds into Hindu fears and is intended to arouse Hindus: it was dangerous and blatantly divisive.
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