Instances of hate speech against minorities jumped 74 % in India in 2024, peaking during the country’s national elections, according to a new report.
Officials like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the most frequently suppliers of hate speech, according to the report, which was released on Monday by the Washington-based study team India Hate Lab, which details 1, 165 such incidents from last year.
Muslims were the ones who received the most love speech, with 98.5 % of hate speech recorded against them.
According to the report, the majority of hate speech took place in states controlled by Modi’s group or a larger empire.
Numerous spokespersons from Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) have asked the BBC for comment on the India Hate Lab report.
Over the years, BJP officials have often been accused of targeting India’s minority populations, especially Muslims.
The ruling party has refuted accusations of hate speech and Islamophobia made by opposition leaders and rights organizations.
Its national director reiterated this position on Tuesday, telling CNN that the nation had a “very strong legal structure that is structured to keep peace, get, and maintain non-violence at all costs.”
“Today’s India does not need any certification from any ‘anti-India reports industry’ which is run by vested interests to prejudice and dent India’s image,” Jaiveer Shergill said.
But the party was accused of using hate speech during the heated election campaign last year. The prime minister himself was accused of using divisive rhetoric that attacked Muslims. In May, India’s Election Commission also asked the party to remove a social media post that opposition leaders said “demonised Muslims”.
According to the India Hate Lab statement, 269 hate speech cases were reported in May 2024, the highest in the year.
Believers have also been targeted by love talk, but to a lesser degree than Muslims, the statement says.
Right organizations have frequently claimed that immigrants, particularly Muslims, have experienced more prejudice and attacks since Modi’s government came to power in 2014. The BJP has repeatedly denied these complaints.
The agency’s report said that dislike speech was particularly observed at political rallies, spiritual processions, rally marches and social gatherings. Most of these activities- 931 or 79.9 %- took position in states where the BJP immediately controlled or ruled in partnership.
Three BJP-ruled says- Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh- accounted for nearly half of the total love conversation events recorded in 2024, the firm’s data showed.
In 2024, the ruling party was also responsible for 340 of these events, an increase of 580 % from the previous year.
In contrast to 2023, political leaders and religious figures have been publicly inciting violence against Muslims, according to the review, which also revealed a “deeply alarming rise in unsafe speech in 2024.”
” This included calls for complete violence, gunfire, financial protest of Muslim businesses, the loss of Muslim residences, and the seizing or destruction of Arab religious structures,” the statement read.