Senior Indian Politicians Censured for Hate Speech as Election Begins

(Bloomberg) -- India’s Election Commission has punished one of the ruling party’s most prominent Hindu nationalist politicians for religious hate speech just days after the country’s tense general election began.

The Election Commission of India condemned comments from Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu priest appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party to run the country’s most-populous state. The agency issued a 72-hour ban on campaigning and said in a statement his “highly provocative” speech was likely to “create mutual hatred between different religious communities.”

Adityanath said the main opposition Congress party and other political opponents “had faith in Ali,” Prophet Mohammed’s son-in-law and a revered figure for Indian Muslims, while the BJP had faith in Hanuman, the monkey god revered by Hindus. Adityanath had previously been warned by the election commission for earlier comments.

“People from the Congress offered biryani to terrorists,” he said on April 1, referring to the traditionally Muslim dish of rice and meat. “But Modi’s army gives terrorists bullets and canon balls.”

Election rules are designed to prevent Indian politicians from using religion and caste to appeal to -- or divide -- voters in a country that has seen violence between majority Hindus and a large Muslim minority. BJP spokesman G.V.L. Narasimha Rao did not immediately respond to a call and text for comment.

Muslim Voters

In a separate statement, the commission issued a 48-hour ban on Mayawati, a former state chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. She had urged Muslim supporters to cast ballots in favor of her party and a coalition ally opposed to Modi’s BJP.

“I want to tell Muslim voters that you don’t have to divide your votes,” she said. “Instead, you have to vote only for one side and ensure” the opposition is successful, she added.

The decision to file bans came hours after the Supreme Court took the election commission to task for not following up on warnings to the two politicians.

The “election commission says they are toothless and powerless,” Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi observed as the court acted on a public interest case seeking action against hate speech. “Are you even aware of your powers?”

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