hidden image

Kharge Shows the Way

Santosh Kumar Santosh Kumar
06 May 2024

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has stated the obvious. Muslims are not the only ones who produce in large numbers. Hindus also do so.

Prime Minister Modi and his spin doctors have been hoodwinking the nation by shouting from the rooftops and the Red Fort that India is on the threshold of becoming the third-largest economy in the world. Fudged data is used to create a veneer of prosperity. But on ground zero, we remain a country of poor people. And our investment, more than anything material, remained our children for a long time. Human resources were vital in those days, as are now. The more, the better was the motto of those days. Whether Hindu or Muslim, large families happened in the past because there were people in the households to look after the children, and mothers were mainly housemakers.

Things have changed with family planning and the disintegration of joint families. This was the case, at least in South India, where I hail from, irrespective of Hindu or Muslim. Things were not so different in North India either. It is absurd to say that Muslims produce more with the sole motto of increasing their numbers in this country. Even if the 200 million Muslims try their best, will they be able to overtake the Hindu population?

Still, our Prime Minister shamelessly goes from one rally to another, proclaiming that the opposition, Congress, is out to appease the Muslim community. In this country, political parties of all hues have used different communities for their own political gains. BJP is no different. Isn't the BJP singling out Pasmanda Muslims to curry favour? The Hindutva party is still using the age-old method of divide and rule. It is not confined to the Mughals and the British.

In 2014 and 2019, Muslim bashing may have fetched votes for Modi. But the argument is jaded. It is not going to hold much longer. The same is the case with Ayodhya and Ram temple. Modi and Shah must now regret that they had rushed through the consecration before the general election. Had they dangled the carrot for some more time in front of gullible Hindus, especially in North India, it may have fetched them some precious votes. Alas, it is not to be so. The novelty has vanished in thin air.

Hence, Modi's rhetoric on Muslims and Congress plots to snatch mangalsutras. What more despicable levels can an elected Prime Minister take the country's political discourse to? With Modi, it looks like a bottomless pit of hatred.

For quite some time, it seemed that the opposition was even afraid to utter the word Muslim. Kharge has dared to utter the unutterable. "The poor who don't have money have children. Why do you target only Muslims? Muslims are in their country ... they are Indians," Kharge has said. This acknowledgement was long overdue. Yes, India belongs to Muslims too. It is bound to resonate across the country and will hopefully reflect on June 4.

Recent Posts

Close at the heel of our other neighbours, Nepal's journey has swung between hope and betrayal. The monarchy fell, the republic faltered, and now its youth demand dignity, justice, and a future free f
apicture A. J. Philip
15 Sep 2025
The recent Vice-Presidential election has exposed deep cracks in India's democracy. Cross-voting, intimidation, abstentions, and invalid ballots have raised serious doubts. It ultimately begs the ques
apicture M L Satyan
15 Sep 2025
September 11 carries memories of violence and division, but also of Gandhi's Satyagraha and Vivekananda's call to end fanaticism. In a world scarred by war, injustice, and hate, 9/11 must challenge us
apicture Cedric Prakash
15 Sep 2025
India may soon become the world's third-largest economy, but its low per capita income, unmitigated inequality, weak healthcare, and fragile education system reveal a different truth. GDP milestones a
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
15 Sep 2025
Modi's long-delayed visit to Manipur are mere optics. After two years of silence amid ethnic cleansing, displacement, and inhumanity by the Meiteis, what peace, protection of minorities, and restorati
apicture Dr Manoj Kumar Mishra
15 Sep 2025
Umar Khalid, the Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar who has spent more than five years in jail, on Thursday, September 11, told a Delhi court that the larger Conspiracy case in connection with the 20
apicture Joseph Maliakan
15 Sep 2025
Looking back at the 100 years of Medical Mission Sisters, there was a pioneering spirit to begin health care facilities for the less privileged, openness to look at themselves critically to make their
apicture Sr. Mary Pullattu, MMS
15 Sep 2025
Though declared a secular republic in 2008, the nation's legal and cultural frameworks remain steeped in Hindu-majority sentiment. Nepal's National Penal Code of 2017 criminalises religious conversion
apicture CM Paul
15 Sep 2025
To be a "Carmelite on the street" is to unite deep prayer with public courage. We must build interior castles yet opening their gates, carrying contemplation into classrooms, farms, protests, and parl
apicture Gisel Erumachadathu, ASI
15 Sep 2025
In today's India, more than flyovers or metros, what we desperately need are bridges. Bridges between communities. Bridges between faiths. Bridges strong enough to carry us into the future without col
apicture Robert Clements
15 Sep 2025