Over 17,400 citizens write to EC seeking action against Modi’s hate speech

Thousands of Indians have submitted letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking action against BJP’s start campaigner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The letter is in reaction to various speeches by Modi, especially the one in Banswara, Rajasthan on Sunday, where he alleged that the Congress manifesto speaks of distributing citizen’s wealth among “infiltrators” (read Muslims) if voted to power.

The letter points out that the MCC clearly says that “No party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic,”

The Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission that political parties have to follow while campaigning.

“The prime minister, while campaigning as the [Bharatiya Janata Party’s] Star Pracharak [campaigner], made a speech on April 21 in Rajasthan that has disturbed the sentiments of millions of Constitution respecting citizens of India,” the group said in a petition to the poll panel. “The speech is dangerous and a direct attack on the Muslims of India.”

The petition was signed by 2,209 persons, according to a report in Scroll.in. The letter added: “Shri Narendra Modi blatantly violated” the MCC by “aiming at not only appealing to ‘communal feelings’ but also instigating and aggravating hatred in the Hindus against Muslims.”

The citizens group pointed out to the EC, Modi’s use of pejorative language against Muslims in a bid to seek votes “seriously undermines India’s stature as the ‘Mother of Democracy’ in the world,” it said.

“The Election Commission’s failure to take any action against such hate speech will only undermine its credibility and autonomy that has been safeguarded and upheld by a series of exemplary officers before you,” the petition read.

“When the Congress-led government was in power, they had said that Muslims have the first right over the country’s assets. This means that they will distribute wealth to those who have more children and those who are infiltrators. Is this acceptable to you?” Modi had said on Sunday.

Modi was apparently referring to remarks that Congress leader Manmohan Singh had made on December 9, 2006, when he addressed a meeting of the National Development Council.

Singh, the then Prime minister, had said that the country’s priorities were to uplift the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women and children.

Another letter by the Samvidhan Bacchao Nagrik Abhiyan, signed by more than 17,400 persons, alleged that Modi had “blatantly violated this code [Model Code of Conduct]” and the Representation of the People Act, 1951, by making a speech “aiming at not only appealing to ‘communal feelings’ but also instigating and aggravating hatred in the Hindus against Muslims,” reported Scroll.in.

The Samvidhan Bacchao Nagrik Abhiyan’s letter asked the poll panel to censure Modi, claiming that the prime minister’s speech “has the potential of tearing apart the social fabric of India” and impose a ban on his campaign “as has been done earlier for violations of this nature,” the Scroll.in report said.