New Delhi: In his first public remarks on The Waqf Amendment Act, 2025 which was passed in parliament earlier this month when he was absent from the House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi harked back to 2002, as he used the contentious law to deliver a divisive speech in which he blamed the Congress for forcing Muslim youth “to spend their lives fixing cycle puncture tyres” and spreading “vote bank virus”.Addressing a gathering in Haryana’s Hisar after laying the foundation stone of a new terminal building at the Maharaja Agrasen Airport and flagging off a commercial flight to Ayodhya, Modi on Monday (April 14), invoked Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on his birth anniversary to accuse the Congress of “snatching away” rights of SC, ST, OBC and reducing them to “second class citizens”.While his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have a single Muslim legislator in the Lok Sabha, Modi questioned the Congress about why it had not appointed any Muslim as its president or provided 50% tickets to Muslims so they could come to parliament, if it had real “sympathy” for the community.Earlier, Modi had in a tweet called the passage of The Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025 a “watershed moment” after it was passed in parliament after two consecutive overnight sessions. However, the prime minister himself remained absent in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.His remarks on Monday came in the backdrop of a communal flareup in West Bengal’s Murshidabad against the legislation, which found no mention in his speech which was focused on polarisation and the Congress.Modi’s use of “Puncture-walla” slur dates back to 2002“In the name of Waqf, lakhs of hectares of land is there in the country. With this land, this property, women and children should have been uplifted. Had it been honestly utilised, Muslim youth would not have to spend their lives by fixing cycle puncture tyres,” said Modi while addressing the gathering on Monday.“There has been no gain for the Pasmanda Muslims. And who were these land mafia looting? This land mafia was looting the land of Dalits, downtrodden, adivasis and widows. Hundreds of widow women wrote to the Centre and then a debate on this law took place. Now this loot from the poor will be stopped.”“Puncture-walla” has been used as an anti-Muslim slur by right wing groups in recent years.In September 2002, in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots that year, Modi in a speech had said: “The population is rising in Gujarat, money isn’t reaching the poor? What’s the reason? They make a beeline, fix cycle punctures.”The term “puncture-walla” was also used by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in 2019 when he referred to those opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC as “uneducated, illiterate, and puncture-wallahs.”“People of Bengaluru’s IT and BT sector, those contributing to the nation’s economy, like lawyers, bank employees, and ordinary citizens – including auto-rickshaw drivers – have gathered here today. Only the uneducated, illiterate, and puncture-wallahs are against the CAA,” Surya had said.In October 2024, now Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who was then deputy chief minister, had blamed the Congress for the condition of Muslims in the country and said that Muslims had become “puncturewalla”.“If Congress and Samajwadi Party really cared for Muslims – they were in power for so many years – at least the condition of Muslims would have improved by 1 per cent,” he said at a Zee News conclave.“They have become puncturewala, they have not become industrialists. They are roaming around with screw drivers, they are not building motor cars. Because these parties want Muslims to remain poor, backward so they can continue to rule and win. Muslims don’t know anything about this act or the waqf board. Some big people may know but the general people do not know about it. They (Congress and Samajwadi Party) are using Muslims’ name for their own gains.”With no elected Muslim BJP MP, Modi questions Congress on Muslim representation In his speech on Monday, Modi also invoked Ambedkar on his birth anniversary to pit SC, ST, OBCs against Muslims and accused the Congress of reducing them to “second class citizens.”“Dr Ambedkar was the protector of the Constitution. But Congress wanted to destroy the Constitution. Ambedkar wanted equality in the country but Congress spread vote bank virus in the country. Babasaheb wanted every poor and backward person to live with dignity and fulfill their dreams. But Congress made SC, ST, OBCs into second class citizens,” he said.Modi accused the Congress of stabbing the Constitution with a knife and said that the party had converted the Constitution into a means of appeasement. He accused the Congress’s government in Karnataka government for providing reservations on the basis of religion, though the legislation adopted by the state assembly provides 4% reservation to Muslims under OBCs in government tenders.“The dream that Babasaheb Ambedkar had seen, social justice that he provided in the Constitution, the Congress stabbed it with a knife and converted that constitutional policy into one of appeasement,” said Modi.“You may have heard in the news that the Karnataka government gave reservation in tenders on the basis of religion by snatching away the rights of the SCs, STs and the OBC. This even though Babasaheb Ambedkar advocated there should be no reservation on the basis of religion and the Constitution also prohibits,” he said.Also Read: ‘Vote Bank Politics’ Versus ‘Disenfranchisement’ As Waqf Bill Passes Lok SabhaWhile Modi’s own party, the BJP, does not have single Muslim legislator in the Lok Sabha and only one nominated member in the Rajya Sabha, Modi said that if the Congress has “sympathy” for the Muslims, then the party should give 50% tickets to Muslims and make its party president a Muslim.“Congress’ policy of appeasement has also affected the Muslims. Congress has only appeased a few fundamentalists. The rest of the Muslim community has remained uneducated and poor. The biggest proof of this Congress’ policy was the amendments it made in the Waqf law. In order to win elections, for vote bank politics and appeasement politics, it brought the amendment on the eve of 2014 elections to the Waqf law,” he said.“This was the biggest insult to Babasaheb’s Constitution. They say that they did it for Muslims. I want to ask these vote bank hungry politicians if they really have such sympathy for Muslims, they should appoint their president from the Muslim community. They should give 50% tickets to Muslims so that they can come to the Parliament and talk about their issues. But they won’t do it. Their attitude of snatching rights of citizens has never been for anyone’s welfare, and not even for the welfare of Muslims. This is the truth about the Congress,” said Modi.