India had to bear with on an average two anti-Moslem hate speech events per day in 2023 and not surprisingly three in every four of those events – or 75 per cent – occurred in states ruled by the BJP. More significantly, the flurry of these speech events peaked between August and November, 2023 when political campaigning and polling in four major states, including Karnataka and Rajasthan, were held. This is the sum and substance of a report released by India Hate Lab (IHL), a Washington, DC-based research group that has adopted this weird name.
As India is, once again, getting ready for elections to the Lok Sabha, the dates of which are to be announced shortly, the IHL in a first-of-its-kind report maps the spread of anti-Moslem hate speech across the country. The group documented a total of 668 hate speech events. The Indian government rendered the website of IHL inaccessible last month under the controversial Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. The government also blocked the website of Hindutva Watch, an independent hate-crime tracker also run by IHL’s founder.
The new report is a first ever attempt by a research group to have tracked hate speech events spread over a year across India, the agents provocateur and the reasons for their occurrence. These hate speeches, as examined by the group, took place across 18 states and three Union Territories. The top-ranking states for these events were Maharashtra accounting for 118 incidents, Uttar Pradesh with 104 incidents and Madhya Pradesh with 65 incidents. The three states have among the biggest voter bases and are currently ruled by the BJP.
While all these facts are undeniable and true, the global menace of Islamist radicalisation cannot be ignored. India has had, for a very long time, political parties in power, both at the Centre and in states which have pandered to the minority communities simply with the idea of cornering their votes. The vote bank drive went far enough that it eventually helped in creating an equally strong hate group which has successfully fascinated the Hindoos in the past decade. A global look may disturb those who speak against Hindoos.
The manner in which Islamic radicalisation is acting out from Spain to the United Kingdom and from France to the Netherlands is a clear indication that history helped India make a course correction. This is not to be misconstrued as a support for hate speeches or any current violent political agendas that are spreading their tentacles across the nation. One needs to remember the constant killings, blasts and terror attacks of the 1990s and 2000s where the mischief mongers did not stay limited to North India alone but spread their wings to Bombay, Calcutta and Hyderabad and other parts of the country. The leaders of the minority communities did not think it necessary to condemn openly nor did they take actions to curb involvement of their youth in such activities at those times. The constant news of police going on Red Alert in different parts of the country had eventually become a soft joke on the Indian establishment.
This also should not be misunderstood as if the Establishment has suddenly become more efficient and transparent. On the contrary, the Indian establishment seems to have gone into further slumber. Examples of this can be seen from Pulwama to Galwan. Such incidents, albeit being painted as nationalistic sacrifices also glaringly showcase the inefficiency and unpreparedness of the government machinery which no political party in power has yet been able to change or mend. Therefore, while the world, especially the West, is witnessing a surge of Islamist radicalisation and connected violence, India has been spared from that scourge internally. Whether this governmental attitude should be utilised for garnering votes is a matter of deep reflection because hate eventually destroys the hater.