As the nation gears up for 2019 general election, the communal polarization has also started. It is led by none other than Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and his defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Holding a press conference Defence minister recently alleged that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had described his party as a “Muslim party” during his recent interaction with intellectuals of the minority community. PM Modi latched on to it and during a rally in UP spoke about it. Now it has turned out that both have used the fake news content to polarize the voters.
Congress as well as intellectuals who had attended the meeting clarified that no such statement was made by Mr Gandhi. At a time when country is witnessing several mob killing due to spread of fake news and roumour mongering, the PM Modi is setting dangerous trend by using fake news to attack his political rival. Also even if Mr Gandhi had said that Congress party belongs to Muslim, what is wrong in it? BJP openly espouse for the Hindu community by talking about Ram temple issue. India is a democratic country and people have liberty to vote for whichever party they like. Sadly instead of talking about development issue, PM Modi is indulging in cheap communal politics. His act is demeaning the office of Prime Minister. Ms Nirmala Sitharaman should understand that she is no more a mere BJP spokesperson and is defence minister of the country. There are thousands of Muslim soldiers working under her ministry. She is disrespecting their services by playing politics over Muslim community. As general election nears incidents of communal polarization is expected to rise. People of India should decide whether they want to vote on religious line or for the development.