New Delhi: India saw a 74% increase in hate speech in 2024, with over 1,000 incidents recorded by the India Hate Lab last year, compared to 688 such events in 2023.
Of the 1,165 recorded instances of anti-minority hate speech, 98.5% targeted the Muslim community either explicitly or alongside Christians, while nearly 10% targeted Christians either explicitly or alongside Muslims, the research group said in a report published on Monday (February 10).
Nearly 80% of the hate speech events took place in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), or in Union Territories where the police and public order is under the BJP-led Union government. In contrast, the opposition-ruled states accounted for 20% of hate speech events last year.