No surprise: Modi's BJP top anti-Muslim hatemonger in India, report reveals

A report from Hindutva Watch, a Washington DC-based research group that tracks hate crimes against minorities in India, has claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliated groups were involved in the majority of hate speech incidents against Muslims in India. 

The report documented 255 incidents of "hate speech gatherings targeting Muslims," with approximately 80% of them occurring in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-ruled states and union territories.

The report suggests that there has been an "escalating trend" of anti-Muslim speech in India since Modi came to power in 2014. It further reveals that over half of the incidents in 2023 were orchestrated by the BJP and its affiliated groups, such as the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Sakal Hindu Samaj, which have ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP.

Abhay Verma, a senior BJP member in New Delhi, dismissed the report as "totally baseless" and denied that the party supports hate speech. He emphasised that the BJP does not divide the country based on religion.

The report is notable because it is the first to document hate speech against Muslims in India since the country's crime bureau stopped collecting data on hate crimes in 2017. 

Hindutva Watch gathered data through social media and news outlets and used data scraping techniques to locate verifiable videos of hate speech events. The research group then conducted in-depth investigations of these incidents through journalists and researchers.

While India does not have an official definition for hate speech, Hindutva Watch adopted the United Nations' language, which characterises hate speech as any form of communication employing prejudiced or discriminatory language towards a particular group based on attributes such as religion, ethnicity, nationality, and race.

The report revealed that states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat witnessed the highest number of gatherings with hate speech. Interestingly, a significant portion of the documented incidents occurred in states scheduled to hold legislative elections this year.

The report also highlighted that approximately 64% of the events propagated anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, 33% included rallying calls for violence against Muslims, and 11% encouraged Hindus to boycott Muslims. Additionally, some gatherings featured "hate-filled and sexist speech" targeting Muslim women.

The report concluded that government officials have frequently engaged in hate speech themselves, including chief ministers, legislators, and senior leaders from the ruling BJP.