In April 2024, speaking at an election rally in Rajasthan state ahead of general elections, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, referring to Muslims, that Congress would take the country’s wealth and distribute among those “who have more children” and “infiltrators.” Since Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party, rose to power in 2014, India has witnessed an uptick of hate speech against religious minorities including Muslims and Christians.
From Prime Minister to local councillor, Hindu nationalist political parties and activists indulge in hateful speeches against Muslims involving conspiracy theories such as “land Jihad”, “population Jihad”, and “love jihad”. Critics argue that some Hindu nationalist political parties and activist groups have used divisive rhetoric targeting minorities, particularly Muslims, as a strategy to galvanise political support. This approach is often employed to secure votes during elections and divert public attention from pressing issues such as economic performance and governance.
The rise in hate speech against minorities, fuelled by political rhetoric and conspiracy theories, will result in more violence in diverse India.
In 2024, India Hate Lab documented 1,165 hate speech events targeting religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, across India, excluding four states. The year 2024 saw a 74.4% increase in such incidents compared to 668 in 2023. 98% of the total reported events targeted Muslims. 79.9% of these took place in BJP ruled states and union territories while 20% occurred in opposition held states. 340 (29.2%) hate speech events were organsied by the BJP and 685 (58%) were organised by other Hindu nationalist entities which are part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) family including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Bajrang Dal, The Sakal Hindu Samaj (SHS), Gau Raksha Dal, and Durga Vahini.
In 2024, the top three individuals who frequently engaged in hate speeches were Chief Minister Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath who delivered 86 hate speeches followed by PM Modi (67), and Home Minister Amit Shah (58). 581 events of hate speech include far-right conspiracy theories such as love jihad, land jihad, population jihad, and vote jihad among others. 274 hate speeches called for the destruction of places of worship belonging to Muslims and Christians.
On various occasions, PM Modi portrayed Congress as a party promoting Muslims’ interest at the expense of Hindus to persuade voters. He uses Muslims to target Congress, aiming to undermine its popularity among the country’s Hindu majority. His anti-Muslim rhetoric increases when elections are around the corner. Human Rights Watch analysed all 173 campaign speeches of Modi starting from 16 March to 1 June 2024. It found that Modi made Islamophobic remarks in at least 110 speeches to discredit political opposition for promoting Muslim rights and to fearmonger among the Hindu community through disinformation.
In one of his speeches on May 2024 in Junagadh, Gujarat, he said, “Congress is fighting elections against Lord Ram”. He added, “if Lord Ram loses, who wins? It was similar thinking that led the Mughals to destroy the Ram temple 500 years ago and that led them to raze our Somnath temple.” The second part of the speech implied that its Muslims’ victory owing to the Congress and fearmongered that Muslims victory would mean a threat to Hindu places of worship or religion. This speech explicitly illustrates that Modi spread hatred among religious communities to weaken political opposition.
Despite two letters from over 17,400 Indians on Modi’s anti-Muslim remarks, the Election Commission of India (ECI) did not take appropriate action, instead wrote a letter to BJP President asking them to refrain from star campaigners, without naming Modi and others, from speeches on religious or communal lines. According to the code of conduct of ECI, politicians must not attract voters stirring “caste” and “communal feelings.” It also explicitly prohibits activities that “may aggravate differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension” between communities and religion. In violation of these codes, ECI can punish candidates by demanding an apology or scrapping their candidacy.
Human rights organisations and scholars have raised concerns that such blatant hate against minorities by top leaders, including the Prime Minister, normalises hate, which in turn leads to violence as well. As of August 2024, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that 28 events of violence against religious minorities have occurred, which led to the deaths of 12 Muslim men and a Christian woman. In January 2025, Hindu nationalist groups including Gau Raksha Dal were involved in at least 18 violent attacks. Moreover, the government is also bulldozing Muslim homes, businesses, and places of worship as a “collective punishment” for communal clashes or dissent. Between April and June 2022, the government authorities in five BJP ruled states bulldozed homes belonging to Muslims as a punishment for their involvement in communal clashes or protests against discrimination. In Delhi’s Mehrauli district, the government demolished 600-year-old Akhondji Mosque along with an Islamic school that also housed orphan children.
Apart from gaining political support, divisive rhetoric also enables the ruling governments in the Centre and states to distract attention from real issues such as the economy, unemployment, and inequality among others. India’s performance in the economy and employment sector under Modi’s decade of rule deteriorated compared to previous terms. For example, even before the Covid-19 era, under Modi, Indian economic growth fell from over 6% in 2015 to 1.6%. During the second term of Modi from 2020 to 2024, India recorded its lowest economic growth at 4-4.1% since the early 1990s. Likewise, youth unemployment increased two-fold from 5.7% in 2000 to 12.4%. Moreover, the figures show India’s ultra rich have increased 11 times in the last decade and comparatively in the Global Hunger Index, India sits at 105 out of 127 countries. Focusing on divisive rhetoric allows rulers to distract attention from issues concerning the masses.
The rise in hate speech against minorities, fuelled by political rhetoric and conspiracy theories, will result in more violence in diverse India. With a 74.4% increase in hate speech incidents in 2024, largely targeting Muslims, and top leaders like PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath frequently engaging in divisive rhetoric, the normalisation of hate has led to violence, destruction of property, and socioeconomic neglect. This strategy diverts attention from pressing issues like unemployment and inequality. To safeguard India’s minorities, leaders must be held accountable, and a culture of inclusivity must be fostered. Unity, not division, is essential for India to maintain and benefit from its diversity.
