Uttarakhand CM Dhami takes pride in ‘most prolific hate-speech actor’ tag, rights groups alarmed
Dehradun: Instead of disputing the findings, Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Chief Minister of BJP-ruled Uttarakhand state, has openly embraced the label of “most prolific hate-speech actor of 2025” following the release of a report by the India Hate Lab (IHL). Dhami said he “accepts the tag,” portraying his remarks against minorities, especially Muslims, as a defence of what he termed “Uttarakhand’s future.”
According to Kashmir Media Service, the annual report recently released by the India Hate Lab (IHL) found that Pushkar Singh Dhami emerged as the most prolific hate speech actor in India with 71 recorded speeches. The IHL, founded by US-based Kashmiri journalist Raqib Hameed Naik, is a project of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a nonprofit Washington-based think tank.
Responding to the report, Dhami openly justified remarks widely seen as targeting the Muslim community. He said that an American NGO had put him at number one for the most hate speeches and argued that raising issues such as “illegal infiltration”, “religious conversion” and alleged conspiracies like “love jihad” should not be considered hate speech. Days after the India Hate Lab’s release, he went on to make further Islamophobic remarks.
In response, the IHL reiterated that they “will continue to closely monitor the unfolding situation facing minority communities in Uttarakhand and hold political leaders and elected officials accountable for enabling hate and inciting violence.” “While those in power may evade accountability in the short term, such impunity cannot go on indefinitely,” the group emphasised.
Days after the report named him the top offender, Dhami on Saturday also made a series of Islamophobic remarks, reiterating his government’s hardline stance against what he termed religious conversion, riots, “love jihad,” “land jihad,’ and “thook jihad.”
The IHL titled ‘Report 2025: Hate Speech Events in India’, documented about 1,318 in-person hate speech events targeting religious minorities, primarily Muslims and Christians, were documented across 21 Indian states. It noted that this represents a 13 percent increase from 2024 and a 97 percent rise from 2023. In 2025, nearly 98 percent of the documented speeches targeted Muslims, either exclusively or alongside Christians.
The report also said that around 88 percent of all hate speech incidents occurred in BJP-ruled states, BJP-led National Democratic Alliance states, and BJP-administered Union Territories, underscoring a growing pattern of institutional tolerance for divisive rhetoric.
Observers say Dhami’s public acceptance, and apparent pride, in the hate-speech label reflects a disturbing normalization of inflammatory discourse, raising serious concerns about the safety and rights of minority communities in Uttarakhand and across India.
