India witnesses 74.4% surge in hate speech in 2024 with BJP leaders being main offenders, says report

Hate speech against minorities in India rose by a staggering 74.4% in 2024, including from prominent leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist party playing a major role in spreading anti-minority rhetoric, a report by a US-based think tank has said.

The report by India Hate Lab, a project of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), released on Feb 10 revealed that the number of hate speech incidents targeting Muslim and Christian minorities rose to 1,165 in 2024 from 668 in the previous year.

The majority of these, around 98.5%, targeted Muslims, either explicitly or alongside Christians which peaked during the country’s general elections, it found.

As 2024 was a general election year in India, it played a crucial role in shaping the patterns of hate speech incidents compared to 2023.

“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 said.

It is to be noted that the India Hate Lab website was blocked in India right before the general polls under orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology under Section 69 of the IT Act.

The report by Washington-based research documented 1,165 such instances last year, adding that politicians like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the most frequent disseminators of hate speech.

In an April rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara, Modi referred to Muslims as “infiltrators”, triggering a wave of similar narratives across the country.

The report highlighted that in the 43 days following this speech, India witnessed more than 300 hate speech incidents which is an average of over seven per day.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, notorious for his hardline Hindutva stance, delivered 86 hate speeches in 2024, many of which invoked conspiracies like “love jihad” and “vote jihad.”

His speeches often portrayed Muslims as threats to Hindu wealth, culture, and security.

The report noted that most of the events where hate speech occurred were held in states governed by Modi's party or larger alliance.

Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 242 hate speech events, followed by Maharashtra with 210. Both states are BJP strongholds.

The report underlines a clear pattern: most incidents coincided with key electoral events, including the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and state elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

“Any kind of communication in speech, writing or behavior, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group based on who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender or other identity factor,” is classified as hate speech according to the United Nations framework.

“Hate speeches frequently invoked the narrative of Muslims as "infiltrators," linked to thinly veiled allegations of all Indian Muslims as Bangladeshi migrants or Rohingya refugees,” the report said.

“Patterns of hate speech in 2024 reflect both continuity and transformation in its context and content with longstanding Hindu nationalist tropes remaining dominant—such as the portrayal of Muslims and Christians as “outsiders” in Hindu India and Muslims as a threat to Hindus,” it added.

Hindu extremist leaders demonized Indian Muslims as “parasitic and thieving”, accusing them of wrongfully receiving resources that rightfully belonged to Hindus.

These anti-minority narratives reinforced the idea of Muslims being “outsiders”, further escalating anti-minority sentiment and hostility.

Political leaders from the BJP, including religious leaders and figures associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and other Hindu nationalist organizations, were responsible for an overwhelming number of hate speech incidents during this period.

Despite the evident rise in hate speeches, the Election Commission of India did little beyond issuing notices.

The report criticized the inaction on the part of the election body, noting that the Model Code of Conduct which prohibits appeals to communal sentiments for votes was repeatedly violated during the elections.

The report concluded that hate speech is no longer an outlier in Indian politics.

It’s now part of mainstream electoral strategies, normalized through both state-backed narratives and the silence of law enforcement agencies.

“Hate speech in India is not spontaneous outrage – it is strategic, deliberate, and often politically sanctioned,” the report stated.