Modi urges his Hindu nationalist party to help India’s Muslims
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India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) told senior party members "nobody should be excluded".
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW DELHI – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged members of his ruling party to reach out to Muslims and other religious minorities.
It is a rare move to tone down sectarian tensions as he prepares to host the Group of 20 summit later this year.
The leader told senior members of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that “nobody should be excluded, regardless of whether they vote for us or not”, said party spokesman Syed Zafar Islam in a phone interview.
Mr Modi’s comments on Tuesday were made at a two-day meeting of the party’s national executive committee in New Delhi.
The meeting sought to discuss a general election due in 2024, where he is hoping for a third straight victory. A slew of state ballots are also due later in 2023.
The Indian Prime Minister has sought to present the country as a force of unity as it takes on the G-20 presidency.
But the South Asian nation has seen rising anti-Muslim sentiment
Since his re-election in 2019, Mr Modi revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special autonomous status to India’s only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir.
He also approved a citizenship law that discriminates based on religion.
Further, Mr Modi has pushed for a national citizens registry in the north-eastern state of Assam and laid the foundation stone for the construction of a Hindu temple at a site where a 16th century mosque was razed.
“We follow the principle that every citizen is equal and should be treated as such,” said Mr Islam. “With that, PM Modi has stated that no one, including Muslims, should be left out.” BLOOMBERG
