WASHINGTON:
According to a report by Hindutva Watch, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit monitoring attacks on minorities, there was more than one episode of anti-Muslim hate speech each day in India in the first half of 2023, and it was especially common in places with forthcoming elections.
According to the study, there were 255 occurrences of hate speech gatherings directed at Muslims in the first half of 2023. No historical data from preceding years were available for analysis.
Hate speech was defined according to the United Nations criteria, which include “any form of communication… that employs prejudiced or discriminatory language towards an individual or group based on attributes such as religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender, or other identity factors.”
According to the data, around 70% of the occurrences occurred in states that were planning elections for 2023 and 2024.
The state of Maharashtra was responsible for 29% of all cases involving hate speech gatherings, followed by Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Most incidents of hate speech involved conspiracy theories, threats of violence, or calls to economically and socially isolate Muslims.
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is generally projected to win the general elections in 2024, is in power in the regions where almost 80% of these incidents occurred.
Hindutva Watch claimed to monitor the websites of Hindu nationalist organizations, authenticate social media recordings of hate speeches, and collect information on single occurrences covered by the media.
Abuse of minorities is not happening, according to Modi’s government. When asked for reaction, the Indian embassy in Washington, DC did not provide one.
Human rights organisations have complained that Muslims have been treated unfairly since Modi became prime minister in 2014.
They cite the 2019 repeal of special status for Muslim-majority Kashmir, the 2019 repeal of an anti-conversion law that challenges the right to freedom of belief, and the 2019 repeal of a citizenship law that the UN human rights office called “fundamentally discriminatory” for excluding Muslim migrants.
The BJP’s rule in Karnataka was marked by a prohibition on the hijab in schools and the demolition of Muslim-owned property under the pretext of eradicating unlawful building.
