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New Delhi: India witnessed at least 1,318 hate speech events targeting religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, across states and union territories in 2025.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, on average, four hate speech events occurred per day, according to the new India Hate Lab report.<\/p>\n
This marks a 13 percent increase from 2024, and 97 percent increase from 2023, when 668 such incidents were recorded.<\/p>\n
In a 100-page report, the India Hate Lab detailed how a total of 1,289 speeches, or 98 percent, targeted Muslims. While in 1,156 cases, it was explicit, in another 133 cases, Muslims were targeted alongside Christians. This is an increase of nearly 12 percent from the 1,147 instances recorded in 2024.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in 162 cases, hate speech was targeted at Christians, accounting for 12 percent of all events, either explicitly in 29 cases or alongside Muslims in 133 cases.<\/p>\n
This is a nearly 41 percent increase from the 115 anti-Christian hate speech incidents documented in 2024, signalling a worrying shift.<\/p>\n
Recently, an annual global study published by the US Holocaust Museum placed India fourth out of 168 nations assessed for the likelihood of what researchers call intrastate mass killings. More significantly, India topped the list of countries facing such danger that are not already experiencing large-scale violence.
\nBJP-ruled states recorded more hate speeches.<\/p>\n
Uttar Pradesh, with 266, recorded the highest number of hate speeches in 2025, followed by Maharashtra, 193; Madhya Pradesh, 172; Uttarakhand, 155; and the national capital region of Delhi recording 76 such events.<\/p>\n
In Uttar Pradesh, ahead of Holi, the state\u2019s BJP leader Raghuraj Singh said that Muslim men should \u201cmake a hijab of tarpaulin for themselves\u201d to avoid any inconvenience during Holi celebrations.<\/p>\n
The India Hate Lab report stated that across the 23 states and union territories analysed, 1,164 hate speech incidents \u2013 88oc \u2013 occurred in states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), either where it held power directly or as part of a coalition, along with BJP-administered union territories.<\/p>\n
This is a 25 percent increase from the 931 incidents recorded in 2024.<\/p>\n
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami emerged as the most prolific hate speech actor in 2025, as per the report, with 71 speeches; followed by Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad chief Pravin Togadia (46) and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay (35).<\/p>\n
Dhami made headlines for mainstreaming conspiracy theories such as \u201clove jihad,\u201d \u201cland jihad,\u201d and \u201cthook jihad.\u201d Under his administration, Uttarakhand has consistently witnessed punitive demolitions of Muslim-owned properties under the pretext of removing \u201cillegal encroachments,\u201d alongside broader patterns of state violence and discriminatory governance.<\/p>\n
Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane also ranked among the top five actors issuing calls to violence. In one instance, he claimed to be the \u201cGabbar\u201d of Hindus and used derogatory language against Muslims. In another, he referred to Muslims as \u201cjihadis\u201d and \u201cgreen snakes,\u201d declaring that all religions are not equal in the \u201cHindu Rashtra\u201d because \u201cHindus come first.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the seven opposition-ruled states, 154 hate speech events were recorded in 2025, with Congress-ruled Karnataka also featuring in the top 10 ranking, recording 40 such cases.<\/p>\n
In the communally volatile West Bengal, on the other hand, the opposition BJP has increasingly used hate speech as an opportunity to lure voters ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. In March last year, the state\u2019s leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari said he would \u201cphysically throw Muslim MLAs out of the assembly\u201d after the party \u201cforms the next government\u201d in the state.<\/p>\n
However, in total, this is a 34 percent decrease from the 234 such incidents documented in opposition states in 2024.<\/p>\n
As many as 656 hate speeches \u2013 nearly 50 percent \u2013 of all speeches referenced conspiracy theories, including \u201clove jihad,\u201d \u201cland jihad,\u201d \u201cpopulation jihad,\u201d \u201cthook (spit) jihad,\u201d \u201ceducation jihad,\u201d \u201cdrug jihad,\u201d and \u201cvote jihad,\u201d representing a 13 percent increase from the previous year.<\/p>\n
A total of 308 speeches, 23 percent contained explicit calls for violence, while 136 speeches included direct calls to arms. While calls for violence increased by 19 percent, calls for social or economic boycotts rose by 8% from 2024.<\/p>\n
A disturbing trend<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the unprecedented surge in hate speech observed in 2024, the total volume of hate speech events in 2025 climbed further, indicating the deep entrenchment of sectarian rhetoric as a routine feature of India\u2019s political and social landscape,\u201d the India Hate Lab report notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis increase signals a significant shift in India\u2019s political landscape, in which inflammatory rhetoric has evolved from a campaign-specific tactic into a normalized and continuously deployed mechanism of political governance. Such rhetoric now functions as a round-the-clock instrument for Hindu far-right mobilization on the ground,\u201d it adds.
\nThe report also noted that in 2025, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, two Hindu nationalist groups who have also played a central role in facilitating hate speeches in 2023 and 2024, emerged as the most frequent organisers of hate speech events, directly sponsoring or facilitating 289 gatherings, accounting for 22% of all documented incidents.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistorically, the RSS and the BJP have relied on organizations such as the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, and other Sangh Parivar affiliates to function as frontline mobilizers of anti-minority hatred and violence. These groups have played a critical role in translating ideological narratives into street-level action,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n
According to the report, April recorded the highest monthly spike, with 158 hate speech events coinciding with Ram Navami processions. Over the past few years, there has been a growing trend of communal tensions around Ram Navami, with Hindu processions often taken deliberately through Muslim areas.<\/p>\n
In addition to it, in April 2025, hate rallies were organised as a response to the Pahalgam terror attack.<\/p>\n
In the 16-day period between April 22 and May 7, following the Pahalgam attack and preceding active hostilities between India and Pakistan, as many as 98 in-person hate speech events were documented, indicating rapid and nationwide anti-Muslim mobilisation, the report noted.<\/p>\n
This is aside from heightened communal discourse on social media platforms during that period.<\/p>\n
Throughout the year, minorities have been described using terms such as \u201ctermites,\u201d \u201cparasites,\u201d \u201cinsects,\u201d \u201cpigs,\u201d \u201cmad dogs,\u201d \u201csnakelings,\u201d \u201cgreen snakes,\u201d and \u201cbloodthirsty zombies\u201d \u2013 most of them were used against Muslims.<\/p>\n
The Wire has extensively reported on the rise in targeting of Bengali Muslims, particularly of migrant workers, terming them Bangladeshi. The India Hate Lab report recorded 192 speeches that invoked the \u201cBangladeshi infiltrator\u201d trope. In addition, 69 hate speech events targeted Rohingya refugees. These instances were seen the most in Delhi and Bihar, as well as in Assam and West Bengal.<\/p>\n
A total of 120 hate speeches explicitly called for social or economic boycotts of minority communities, primarily Muslims, whereas 276 speeches called for the removal or destruction of places of worship, including mosques, shrines and churches.<\/p>\n
The Gyanvapi mosque and the Shahi Idgah mosque in Uttar Pradesh were among the most frequently targeted sites in 2025, as per the report.<\/p>\n
Violence further escalated during the Christmas period, with widespread harassment of Christians and disruptions of prayer services showing an increasing anti-Christian sentiment embedded within the same dangerous hate-speech ecosystem that has historically targeted Muslims.<\/p>\n
The BJP-led government has once again largely evaded the issue of rising communal divide or the surge in hate speeches.<\/p>\n
To a question in Lok Sabha, about the surge in hate speech by politicians and the need for new laws, Indian minister Kiren Rijiju in July last year even declined to provide any data, strategically deferring all accountability to state governments, citing that \u2018public order\u2019 and \u2018police\u2019 are state subjects.<\/p>\n
The Indian Supreme Court, which previously demonstrated judicial activism, exhibited a noticeable restraint in 2025. In November, a top court bench stated it was \u201cnot inclined to monitor every incident of hate speech\u201d nationwide, directing petitioners to the high courts and local police.<\/p>\n
This is even as another Supreme Court bench, in May, while issuing notices to a group of comedians for making insensitive jokes, had affirmed that hate speech cannot be misconstrued as a fundamental right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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