Three weeks after his speech where he alleged that Muslims will be given India’s wealth if Congress came to power, incumbent Prime Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi claimed innocence in a media interview to News18 on Tuesday, May 14. In fact, he denied ever mentioning Muslims on stage, despite videos of his speech clearly calling Muslims infiltrators and ‘people who birth too many kids’ being watched millions of times. The idea that Muslims produce more children with the aim of outnumbering Hindus in India is a conspiracy theory popular among Hindu nationalists.
To interviewer Rubika Liyaquat’s question of why it was necessary for him to use terms like ‘infiltrators’ and ‘people who have too many kids’ when referring to Muslims on stage, Modi took a sudden, affected melodramatic tone to say, “I’m shocked! Who said that when I mention people with too many kids it refers only to Muslims? Why are you doing injustice to Muslims?”
“In our place, poor families are also in such a state,” he continued, “They're unable to educate their children, no matter which community they're from. Where there is poverty, there are more children.”
When the interviewer followed up with whether his mention of Muslims was different from his mention of people with many kids, Modi falsely claimed, “I neither said Hindu, nor Muslim. I only said, you should only have as many kids as you can take care of. Don't bring it to a stage where the government has to care for them.”
“The day I do Hindu-Muslim, I will not be eligible to continue in public life,” he declared, “I will not do Hindu-Muslim, this is my commitment.”
The claim that Modi did not mention Hindu or Muslim is provably false. During a public rally at Rajasthan’s Banswara on April 21, Modi addressing a crowd of thousands said, “Earlier, when they (Congress) were in power, they said that the Muslims have the first right to the country’s wealth. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators?” He was referring to the Congress government under former PM Manmohan Singh, during the period 2004-2014.
However, fact checks have established that Manmohan Singh’s remark on “first claim on resources” actually referred to “priority” areas including programmes for the upliftment of SCs, STs, OBCs, women and children and minorities.
Modi had also claimed in a speech that women’s wealth could be at risk if Congress comes to power, claiming the party would snatch away their “mangalsutra” — a sacred chain that indicates a Hindu woman’s marital status.
Watch: Pooja Prasanna debunks Modi's speech on Muslims