Supriya Sharma / scroll
Even the high office of the Prime Minister cannot contain the divisive instincts of Narendra Modi. On Monday, addressing an election rally in Buxar in Bihar, he spoke of a “conspiracy” by his opponents to snatch away a part of the reservation benefits from Dalits and Backward groups in the state to give to “another community.” He said: “Five percent from the Dalits, five percent from Mahadalits, 5% from Backwards, 5% from Extremely Backwards. There is a conspiracy to take away from their quota to give to another community.”
The community was not named but it was lost on no one that Modi was targeting Muslims. With the Bharatiya Janata Party fearing a loss of votes from Dalit and Backward communities on account of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments asking for a review of reservations in educational institutions and jobs, Modi was doing what he knows best – deflect blame to Muslims.
That no such reservation promise has been made by the grand alliance of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav, either in their party manifestos or in their poll campaign, made little difference. To serve his aim of polarising votes along religious lines, Modi dredged up a stillborn idea mooted in 2012 by the United Progressive Alliance government which said it would carve out a sub-quota of 4.5% for Muslims within the 27% OBC quota. If the UPA had mislead Muslims – the Supreme Court had put on hold a similar provision in Andhra Pradesh and is yet to decide on the constitutional validity of religion-based reservations – Modi was multiplying the lie. Notice how he masterfully – and maliciously – converted 5% into 20% by claiming 5% would be taken from four different categories. more
Even the high office of the Prime Minister cannot contain the divisive instincts of Narendra Modi. On Monday, addressing an election rally in Buxar in Bihar, he spoke of a “conspiracy” by his opponents to snatch away a part of the reservation benefits from Dalits and Backward groups in the state to give to “another community.” He said: “Five percent from the Dalits, five percent from Mahadalits, 5% from Backwards, 5% from Extremely Backwards. There is a conspiracy to take away from their quota to give to another community.”
The community was not named but it was lost on no one that Modi was targeting Muslims. With the Bharatiya Janata Party fearing a loss of votes from Dalit and Backward communities on account of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments asking for a review of reservations in educational institutions and jobs, Modi was doing what he knows best – deflect blame to Muslims.
That no such reservation promise has been made by the grand alliance of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav, either in their party manifestos or in their poll campaign, made little difference. To serve his aim of polarising votes along religious lines, Modi dredged up a stillborn idea mooted in 2012 by the United Progressive Alliance government which said it would carve out a sub-quota of 4.5% for Muslims within the 27% OBC quota. If the UPA had mislead Muslims – the Supreme Court had put on hold a similar provision in Andhra Pradesh and is yet to decide on the constitutional validity of religion-based reservations – Modi was multiplying the lie. Notice how he masterfully – and maliciously – converted 5% into 20% by claiming 5% would be taken from four different categories. more
No comments:
Post a Comment