Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has come under a lot of criticism due to his stand on India’s Muslim Policy. As a prime minister skilled at portraying many faces, Modi has been accused of Islamophobic and polarising sentiments during his recent election campaign in Rajasthan. They have been called ‘infiltrators’ and he suggested that Muslims would seize India’s wealth if his rivals came to power. His critics have suggested that Modi has been implementing a strategy that seeks to categorise voters along the religious divide and build support for the BJP as the only political party that can protect Hindus from Muslims.
While Modi has tried to move away from polarising politics, groups of Hindu activists continue to bait non-Hindu minorities, raising concerns for India’s 200 million Muslims. These sentiments, such as the targeting of the Muslim birth rate and their demand for differential treatment, are viewed as attempts at inspiring the population’s apprehension to advance a Hindu-dominated Indian agenda.
Some critics have accused Modi of undermining democracy, namely, through limiting media freedom and stifling protests, while the BJP has painted the opposition as anti-Hindu, which has aggravated communal tensions. The People’s Union of Civil Liberties has requested Modi’s disqualification from elections on charges of communal incitement, thereby questioning the integrity of the Indian elections.
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There has been a notable Islamophobic discourse in Modi’s political politics such as sloganizing and invoking Muslim demography and the BJP has perpetuated Hindu-Muslim conflict for votes. The Election Commission of India and the judiciary are also under fire over their preparedness to protect democracy given these contentious issues.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies towards India’s Muslims have elicited strong reactions regarding the state of democracy, communal coexistence, and political integrity in the country. The provocative speeches given by the Prime Minister and the BJP have not only aggravated the communal divide but Indian democracy’s institutions which were supposed to protect the rights and civil liberties of the Indian citizens have also been put to the test.
