WASHINGTON: A report by Hindutva Watch, an organization based in Washington that monitors attacks on minorities, has revealed that incidents of hate speech against Muslims in India were a daily occurrence during the first half of 2023. These incidents were most prevalent in states preparing for upcoming elections.
The report identified 255 documented instances of gatherings promoting hate speech targeting Muslims in the first half of 2023, although there is no available comparative data from previous years. These incidents were defined using the United Nations’ criteria, which characterizes hate speech as any form of communication that employs prejudiced or discriminatory language against individuals or groups based on attributes like religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender, or other identity factors.
Approximately 70 percent of these incidents occurred in states set to hold elections in 2023 and 2024. The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat reported the highest number of hate speech gatherings, with Maharashtra accounting for 29 percent of such incidents. Many of these hate speech events propagated conspiracy theories and called for violence and socio-economic boycotts against Muslims.
It is worth noting that around 80 percent of these events took place in areas governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is widely anticipated to be a strong contender in the 2024 general elections. Hindutva Watch tracked online activities of Hindu nationalist groups, verified hate speech videos posted on social media, and compiled data from isolated incidents reported by the media.
Despite these findings, Modi’s government has consistently denied the presence of minority abuse. The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comments.
Human rights groups have raised concerns about the mistreatment of Muslims under Modi’s leadership, beginning with his assumption of the prime minister’s office in 2014.
They point to several controversial policies, including the 2019 citizenship law criticized by the United Nations human rights office for excluding Muslim migrants, anti-conversion legislation that challenges the constitutionally protected right to freedom of belief, the 2019 revocation of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s special status, the demolition of Muslim properties in the name of removing illegal construction, and a ban on wearing the hijab in classrooms in Karnataka when the BJP was in power in that state.
Source: Reuters
