Who gets to claim Gandhi? Mr. Modi及其Bharatiya Janata 黨與穆斯林搶甘地思想......

Opponents of India’s new citizenship law sat in for a silent protest at a mosque in New Delhi on Thursday, the 72nd anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi’s assassination.   Saumya Khandelwal for The New York Times

Who gets to claim Gandhi?

The Indian icon is being pulled into the growing tension between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and protesters challenging his Hindu-centric vision for India.

Mr. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have invoked Gandhi in speeches and pamphlets, saying he would have supported a contentious citizenship law.

The protesters — who see the law as discriminatory, with the potential to strip Muslims of citizenship — point out that Gandhi sought protections for Muslims.

Where Gandhi stood: He envisioned the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Hindus under a secular government. He was killed 72 years ago by a Hindu nationalist nurtured by the same hard-line group that shaped Mr. Modi.

Quotable: “You can’t have Einstein without relativity,” said a biographer of Gandhi. “You can’t have Darwin without evolution. And you can’t have Gandhi without Hindu-Muslim harmony.”