'668 Hate Speech Events in 2023': Why The India Hate Lab Report Should Worry Us

"We do not expect to see a decline in hate speech events in the near future," the report noted.

A total of 668 hate speech events were recorded in 2023. This is what the latest India Hate Lab report 2023 has put forth as it reveals alarming trends and damning revelations when it comes to the rapid rise of hate speech events in India and its consequences.

In an election year that India finds itself in, it becomes crucial to see the simultaneous rise in hate speech and why it continues to persist and flourish.

"The 2024 elections will mark a critical year for hate speech in India. We do not expect to see a decline in hate speech events in the near future," reads the report.

Done in collaboration with Hindutva Watch, the report tracked daily online activity of Hindu far-right groups, their national and regional leaders.

"The normalization of hate speech has been central to the Hindu far-right project of transforming India into a de facto Hindu nation. A form of symbolic violence itself, it has also enabled physical violence, disenfranchisement, and destruction aimed at Indian Muslims as well as other Indian religious and caste minorities," they said.

498 (75%) of the events took place in BJP-ruled states, union territories, and Delhi (police and public order comes under purview of the BJP-led central government).

The report claimed that about 104 hate speech events were organized in the state of Uttar Pradesh alone. "The state, where over 38 million Muslims reside, is led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who has a prolific history of delivering hate-filled speeches."

Meanwhile, Haryana witnessed about 48 hate speech events, forming about 7.2% of all hate speech events in the report's dataset, while only constituting about 2% of the Indian population.

The report noted, "The BJP itself was responsible for organizing about 50 hate speech events, often in the context of election rallies."

Maharashtra Tops List of Most Hate Speech Events

Amidst a surge in hate speech events, witnessed numerous incidents of communal tension and violence, inflicting considerable harm upon the Muslim community.

Between 1 January and 1 October, IHL documented 91 hate speech events across 27 out of 36 districts in Maharashtra.

"Mumbai and Kolhapur district, which ranked among top five in hate speech events, were also the ones to witness most incidents of communal tension and violence in the state."

Overall, organizations such as the VHP-Bajrang Dal, individual BJP leaders, the Sakal Hindu Samaj (SHS) and the Hindu Jagran Vedike were responsible for 307 events, forming about 46% of all hate speech events in 2023, the report added.

Despite experiencing a surge in hate speech events during the BJP's tenure before the May elections, Karnataka has witnessed a gradual decline in such events ever since the Congress government came to power.

BJP legislators T Raja Singh and Nitesh Rane, AHP Chief Pravin Togadia, far-right influencer Kajal Shingala, Sudarshan News owner Suresh Chavhanke, Hindu religious leaders Yati Narsinghanand, Kalicharan Maharaj, Sadhvi Saraswati Mishra are the top eight speakers responsible for most hate speeches.

The analysis of the individuals most actively involved in delivering hate speeches reveals a pervasive network of far-right influencers, leaders of far-right groups, and members of the BJP. Just five speakers were responsible for 146 hate speech events or 22% of all hate speech events documented by IHL.

The use of the war to peddle anti-Muslim hate peaked in November, with references during 17 events recorded by IHL. 32 out of the 41 events (78%) took place in BJP-ruled states and union territories.

• 14 October: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) General Secretary Surendra Jain during a speech shared unverified reports about "beheaded babies," demanding that Israel should not stop until it has demolished this "jihadi mentality that has infected the entire world."

• 20 October: VHP leader Ishwar Lal used the attacks to assert that this was the "character" of all Muslims.

• 10 November: BJP leader Kapil Mishra said, "What Israel faced is what we have been facing for 1400 years

Overall, 54% of hate speech events took place in states where legislative elections were held in 2023 or are slated for 2024.

Only around 10.6% of events in BJP-ruled states included BJP leaders, whereas, this figure rose to about 27.6% in non-BJP ruled states, suggesting that BJP is more likely to partake in hate speech when attempting to make inroads in non-BJP ruled states.

"In particular, BJP leaders delivered hate speeches during their election campaigns in the opposition-ruled states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh," the report continued.

"The increase in tracked events during state elections in 2023 was not an isolated incident but indicative of a larger trend, observed during the 2019 national elections which saw a sharp rise in hate speech events across the country."