New Delhi, India – The share of Indian Muslims in the country’s population has soared by more than 43 percent since 1950: That’s the key takeaway from a new working paper published by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC).
Amid India’s heated national election campaign, as Modi has increasingly painted scenarios of Muslims backed by opposition parties taking over the nation’s resources, the report has sparked criticism over its timing. Sections of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have amplified the findings of the paper to emphasise a narrative long peddled by the Hindu right that the community’s religious majority in the country is under threat.
