Sunday | February 16, 2025
India’s religious minorities have experienced a dramatic and unprecedented surge in hate speech over the past year, including inflammatory rhetoric from prominent leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a report released Monday.
The report, published by the Washington-based research group India Hate Lab, documented a staggering 1,165 incidents of hate speech targeting Muslim and Christian minorities in 2024—a sharp 74% increase from the 668 recorded in the previous year. Alarmingly, nearly all of these incidents, approximately 98%, were directed at Muslims, either explicitly or in conjunction with attacks on Christians.
“Hate speech in India in 2024 followed an alarming trajectory, deeply intertwined with the ideological ambitions of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the broader Hindu nationalist movement,” the report stated. Researchers pointed to a pattern of divisive rhetoric that has fueled sectarian tensions, emboldening extremist groups and creating an increasingly hostile environment for religious minorities.
Modi, who secured a third consecutive term in last year’s general elections, has long faced criticism from human rights organizations, political opponents, and international watchdogs for allegedly fostering religious polarization. His government has been accused of either tacitly encouraging or failing to act against rising anti-Muslim sentiment and hate speech. Critics argue that since Modi first took office in 2014, incidents of communal violence, hate crimes, and discriminatory policies targeting minorities have surged.
The BJP and its ideological affiliates, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have been accused of working to reshape India—traditionally a secular democracy—into a Hindu rashtra, or Hindu homeland. Detractors argue that this vision comes at the expense of the country’s millions of religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, who increasingly face threats, marginalization, and legal crackdowns under the government’s policies.
Despite these concerns, Modi and his party have consistently denied accusations of religious discrimination. BJP leaders have insisted that their policies are aimed at national unity and development rather than sectarianism.
Reacting to the report, BJP’s national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill dismissed its findings, calling it an attempt to tarnish India’s global reputation. “This report is nothing but a politically motivated effort to malign India’s image on the world stage,” Shergill said, arguing that the BJP remains committed to the principles of democracy and secularism.
The findings come amid growing international scrutiny of India’s human rights record, with organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch frequently raising concerns about the treatment of minorities, press freedoms, and the shrinking space for dissent under Modi’s government. With India set to play an increasingly prominent role on the global stage, analysts warn that unchecked hate speech and rising religious intolerance could undermine its democratic credentials and social stability.
BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill strongly dismissed the findings of the India Hate Lab report, defending the country’s legal and judicial framework. “India as a nation has a very strong legal system which is structured to maintain peace, order, and ensure non-violence at any cost,” Shergill told CNN. “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.”
However, the report painted a different picture, arguing that hate speech in 2024 was not only widespread but systematically reinforced by the ruling party. It stated that hate speech over the past year repeatedly invoked longstanding Hindu nationalist tropes, particularly the portrayal of Muslims and Christians as “outsiders,” “foreigners,” and “invaders” who lack a legitimate claim to belonging in India. Such rhetoric, researchers noted, has been historically used to marginalize minority communities and frame them as a threat to India’s Hindu majority.
The India Hate Lab report also highlighted the BJP’s increasing role in organizing hate speech events. According to its findings, the party was directly responsible for approximately 30% of such gatherings in 2024—an almost six-fold increase compared to the previous year. BJP leaders themselves delivered 452 hate speeches, reflecting an alarming 350% rise. A significant number of these inflammatory statements were made during the general election campaign, suggesting that religious polarization was strategically employed as a political tool.
Prime Minister Modi has long been accused of making Islamophobic remarks during his campaign speeches, with critics arguing that his rhetoric has legitimized and fueled anti-Muslim sentiment at both the grassroots and institutional levels. The report stated that these high-profile speeches by Modi and other senior BJP figures were subsequently echoed and amplified by a wide network of local party leaders, Hindu nationalist groups, and religious figures. This, the report argued, helped spread divisive rhetoric deeply into communities, contributing to the rising hostility toward minorities.
India is home to a significant religious minority population, with Muslims making up around 200 million of the country’s 1.4 billion people, and Christians numbering roughly 27 million. Despite India’s constitutional commitment to secularism, the country’s political landscape has increasingly shifted toward Hindu nationalist ideology under Modi’s leadership, with critics warning of a deepening erosion of minority rights.
Under Modi’s government, Hindu nationalists have been appointed to influential positions across key state institutions, giving them the ability to shape policies and implement measures that rights groups argue disproportionately target Muslims. Among the most controversial changes are revisions to school textbooks, where references to India’s Islamic rulers have been minimized or removed entirely. Additionally, the government has overseen the renaming of cities and streets that previously bore Mughal-era names, a move widely seen as an attempt to erase Muslim historical influence.
Beyond symbolic changes, the report also pointed to more tangible consequences of Hindu nationalist policies. In multiple states, Muslim-owned properties have been demolished by authorities, often under the pretext of illegal encroachment on government land. However, rights organizations and opposition parties allege that these demolitions are politically motivated and are used as collective punishment for alleged involvement in protests or communal violence.
As religious tensions continue to escalate, analysts warn that the normalization of hate speech and anti-minority policies could have far-reaching implications for India’s social fabric and international reputation. While the Modi government insists that it governs without bias, the growing influence of Hindu nationalism within state institutions raises concerns about the future of religious pluralism in the world’s largest democracy.
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government made a historic and highly controversial move by revoking Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, stripping Jammu and Kashmir—India’s only Muslim-majority state—of its special autonomy. The decision brought the region under the direct control of New Delhi, leading to widespread unrest, mass detentions, and a heavy military crackdown. Many Kashmiri political leaders were placed under house arrest, internet services were suspended for months, and restrictions on movement were imposed, further deepening tensions between the government and the region’s Muslim population.
That same year, the Modi administration passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a contentious law that provided a fast-track path to Indian citizenship for undocumented immigrants from neighboring countries—specifically Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Notably, the law excluded Muslims, sparking accusations of religious discrimination and violating India’s secular principles. The passage of the CAA ignited widespread protests across the country, with demonstrations led by student groups, civil rights activists, and members of the Muslim community. In response, clashes between pro- and anti-CAA groups erupted, leading to deadly riots in the capital, New Delhi, where at least 53 people were killed, most of them Muslims.
Despite India’s constitutional commitment to secularism, critics argue that the BJP government’s policies have contributed to an increasingly hostile environment for religious minorities, particularly Muslims. Hate speech, once confined to extremist fringes, has now become mainstream, with senior political figures and Hindu nationalist groups openly promoting divisive rhetoric.
India has legal provisions that prohibit hate speech under various sections of its penal code. These include laws criminalizing “deliberate and malicious acts” intended to insult religious beliefs, as well as statutes addressing the promotion of enmity between different religious groups. However, despite these legal safeguards, experts argue that hate speech has proliferated across the country due to a lack of stringent enforcement and judicial reluctance to recognize or prosecute such offenses.
Anas Tanwir, a lawyer and founder of the Indian Civil Liberties Union, criticized the judiciary for its inaction, stating that courts have failed to take concrete steps to curb hate speech “despite clear prohibitions under various laws in India.” This perceived inaction, he argued, has allowed hate speech to flourish, emboldening radical groups and deepening religious divisions.
The India Hate Lab, a research initiative under the Washington, DC-based think tank Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), has been documenting and analyzing hate speech trends in India. It releases annual data on incidents of religious hate speech, using the United Nations’ definition, which classifies hate speech as any form of communication—whether in speech, writing, or behavior—that attacks, disparages, or discriminates against individuals based on their religious identity.
As India’s political and social landscape continues to evolve, concerns about rising hate speech, communal polarization, and the erosion of secular values remain at the forefront of national and international discussions. With India set to play an increasingly prominent role on the global stage, experts warn that unchecked religious intolerance could undermine its democratic foundations and social harmony.