Indian Prime Minister Modi accused of hate speech after comments about Muslims as “invaders”

In a country with a population of 1.4 billion people, about 80 percent consider themselves Hindu. About 14 percent are Muslim, but that is still a group of more than 200 million people. This makes India the third largest Muslim community in the world.

India was long known as a country where freedom of religion was highly valued. Since Modi came to power in 2014, discrimination based on religion has increased sharply. The Prime Minister is pursuing a policy of Hindu nationalism, which favors the country’s Hindu population over Muslims and Christians.

There is a general sense of fear among Muslims. Van de Weghe also saw this during his passage through the country. “Muslims I was able to speak to here last week testify that they are afraid, because the number of attacks has increased sharply in recent years. There are lynchings, mosques are being demolished and entire Muslim neighborhoods have to make way.”

“The fuss surrounding Modi’s statements certainly increases the tensions that already exist during the elections,” says Van de Weghe. “In Rajasthan (where Modi gave his speech, ed.) I was banned from filming near mosques within the election area. Interviewing Muslims is also not allowed. The police are also present en masse to quell possible riots.”