Hate speech in India targeting the country’s religious minorities saw a “staggering” surge in 2024, a US-based think tank said Monday.
The alarming rise was “deeply intertwined with the ideological ambitions of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the broader Hindu nationalist movement”, the India Hate Lab (IHL) said in a report.
During India’s bitterly contested national vote last year, critics and rights groups accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP of ramping up rhetoric against Muslims to unprecedented levels during his campaign in a bid to mobilise the Hindu majority.
At his rallies, he referred to Muslims as “infiltrators”, and claimed the main opposition Congress party would redistribute the nation’s wealth to Muslims if it won.