Even for a party known for its openly Hindu nationalist agenda, the campaign has been one of their most brazenly anti-Muslim
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi
Thu 6 Feb 2020
Bharatiya Janata Party’s supporters shout slogans during a campaign rally ahead of Delhi state elections Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP
Standing before a political rally in Delhi, Yogi Adityanath, the firebrand Hindu nationalist chief minister of Uttar Pradesh known for preaching hate and violence against India’s Muslims, did not mince his words.
The thousands of women who have been gathered for two months in the Delhi suburb of Shaheen Bagh in protest against India’s new citizenship law were “terrorists”, he said.
“The protests happening at various places in Delhi are not because of the Citizenship Amendment Act,” said Adityanath, to roars from the orange-clad crowd gathered before him on Sunday. “They are happening because these people want to prevent India from becoming a global power.”
Terrorists, he added, should be fed with “bullets not biryani”.
‘Modi is afraid’: women take lead in India’s citizenship protests
In the weeks leading up to the Delhi state elections on Saturday, candidates for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) have been out in force. They are desperate to wrench victory from the hands of the ruling anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party, who have had held 67 out of 70 assembly seats since the last election five years ago.
But even for the BJP, which has an openly Hindu nationalist agenda, the campaign has been one of their most brazenly anti-Muslim yet, as exemplified by the decision to bring Adityanath – one of the BJP’s most militant voices – out on the campaign trail.
Categories: Asia, India, Indian Media, Indian Press, Islam