Nobel Laureate and Harvard Professor Amartya Sen on Sunday condemned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his derogatory remarks about Muslims, labelling them as hate speech and demanding an apology to India’s 200 million Muslim citizens.

According to Kashmir Media Service, in a recent interview, Sen, a noted Indian economist and philosopher, criticized Modi’s comments equating Muslims to “infiltrators” during an election rally in Rajasthan in April 2024. He described these remarks as “a terrible remark to make,” highlighting their offensive nature.

Sen, who is also a former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, emphasized that Modi’s statement was not only insulting to the Muslim community but also to India as a whole. He argued that such comments reveal “the limitations of Modi’s mind” and reflect “something deeply worrying about his thinking of India.”

Additionally, Sen dismissed Modi’s claim of divine birth and mission as either “megalomania” or “delusion.” He also rejected Modi’s boast of equaling Jawaharlal Nehru’s record of winning three consecutive terms as “hokum.”

Sen criticized Modi’s handling of the recent election results, noting the Prime Minister’s defiant and arrogant demeanor despite losing his majority in the Lok Sabha. This, according to Sen, indicates “a lack of comprehension of what actually happened.”

The Nobel Laureate also condemned the Modi government’s treatment of renowned writer Arundhati Roy, expressing anger and shock at the situation, and labeling the government’s actions as “just dead wrong.