New Delhi, Feb 27 (EFE).- India recorded a 62 percent increase in hate speech against Muslims in the second half of 2023, especially in states controlled by Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to a report by a research group.
Last year, India Hate Lab (IHL) “documented 668 hate speech events targeting Muslims,” the Washington-based group said in its annual report.
“IHL recorded 255 of the events in the first half of 2023, while the number rose to 413 events in the second half of the year, a 62 percent increase,” the report added.
Thirty six percent of the hate speech cases called for violence against Muslims, who were accused of taking women and land from the Indians or of having more children to become the majority community in the country.
Eighty percent of India’s population, or 970 million, are Hindus while Muslims account for 14.2 percent, or 172 million, according to the latest census carried out in 2011.
According to IHL, about 50 percent of the cases recorded in 2023 were organized by entities that are linked to the far-right organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), considered the ideological parent of the BJP.
Three out of four hate speeches were documented in states governed by the BJP, indicated the research group, which mentioned the names of several lawmakers from the party, who had especially contributed to inciting hatred.
The report also indicated that the outbreak of the Gaza war on Oct. 7 was used “to stoke hatred towards Indian Muslims.”
The group documented 318 cases of hatred against Muslims between August and Novembe, almost half of all cases recorded in 2023. EFE
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