February 17, 2020
The Wire

'Anti-Muslim Prejudice is in Modi's DNA'

by Karan Thapar

In an outspoken and critical interview which will upset the BJP government and enrage its supporters, Tavleen Singh has repeatedly compared the Narendra Modi government, its legislation and its attitude to Muslims to Nazi rule in Germany in the 1930s. She calls the Citizenship Amendment Act "India's first Nuremberg law". She repeatedly speaks of Modi's attitude and treatment of Muslims alongside Hitler's treatment of jews. She says just as Hitler's Nuremberg laws singled out jews and treated them differently to other Germans so, too, does the Citizenship Amendment Act single out Muslims and treat them differently to other Indians.

In a 42-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire on her recently published book Messiah Modi?, Singh says that she has known for a long time that anti-Muslim prejudice is part of the DNA of the RSS, whom she calls the "alma mater" of Narendra Modi. She now fears that anti-Muslim prejudice is also part of Narendra Modi's DNA. She says there were hints of this when he was chief minister of Gujarat and refused to wear a skull cap or compared the killings of Muslims in 2002 to a puppy being run over by a car. . . .

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Tavleen Singh is one of India's most influential columnists and authors. In "Messiah Modi?" she details her early support for Modi the candidate, followed by a helpless disenchantment with Modi the Prime Minister.

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