Spiral of Hate Speech Worsens: Demonisation of Minorities

The RSS-BJP and its affiliates take every opportunity to deepen the demonisation of religious minorities. Though there are legal provisions for punishing these hate speeches, mostly they go unpunished. In the past decade, with a communal party in power, this phenomenon (of punishing) has seen a dangerous downslide, which is leading to negative social perceptions about the religious minorities.

As reflected in the community WhatsApp groups and social attitudes, hating these minorities has become a sort of normal discourse among large sections of society. The increasing intensity of spewing hate is the root due to which negative social perceptions are constructed which, in turn, is a severe blow to the concepts of fraternity and communal amity, one of the three legs of the tripod of Indian Constitution.

There are newer dog whistles, as such these are no more just dog whistles, but more a call to action. These are built on the existing misconceptions and add on to the process of divisiveness. Perceptions like Mughal kings were outsiders and wrought injustices to Hindus, they were temple destroyers, they imposed Islam by force have rapidly been added on to slogans like, ‘Hum Do Hamare do, who Panch unke Pacchis’, (We [Hindus] are two, and they [Muslim] are 25), refugee camps housing Muslims were called ‘child production factories’. The new add ons are ‘they can be recognised by their clothes, they are killers of our Holy mother- the cow, they are luring our girls-women through ‘love jihad’. Now there is a ‘jihad’ series, the latest being ‘land jihad’ and ‘vote jihad’.

In the wake of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came out with hate speeches by the dozen. As per Human Rights Watch, Modi had made 110 hate speeches in those elections. The report says, “Modi made Islamophobic remarks intended to undermine the political opposition, which he said promoted Muslim rights, and to foster fear among the majority Hindu community through disinformation.”

Another sample is equally horrifying. Referring to reservations to Muslims as “appeasement” by the Congress, Modi said, "This is a part of despicable attempts at Islamisation of India and pushing it towards divisions. When the UPA government came to power, it made such attempts at that time too. BJP had carried out a massive agitation. So, be it Justice Verma committee report or the Sachar committee report, they were all attempts by Congress to loot the reservation of OBCs, SCs and STs” (The Times of India, 2024).

Read Also: How Hindu Festivals Are Being Abused to Spark Violence and Hate

The recent Assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra saw the peak of this phenomenon yet again. In Jharkhand, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) focused on propaganda of Muslim infiltrators in the state. BJP issued a very demeaning advertisement, which showed a large Muslim family invading a Hindu household and taking it over. One knows Jharkhand has no international border, so who are these Muslims taking over a Hindu household? For a change, the Election Commission got the advertisement pulled down but its source and already circulated video may be available at places.

Another hate-provoking propaganda was that Muslims marry adivasi women and take over adivasi land. No data is needed to support this kite-flying, and it serves the purpose of divisive politics. The slogan given was that the Muslim infiltrators were taking away your ‘Roti, Beti, Mati’ (Livelihood, Daughter, Land) This statement was from none other than the Prime Minister of the country!

The core slogan this time was from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of BJP. ‘Batenge to Katenge’… (If we are divided, we will be butchered). He meant Hindu unity. Backing him up, the father organisation of BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) Dattatray Hosabale made it clear that, “The important point is that when Hindus are united, it will be beneficial for all. Unity of Hindus is the Sangh’s lifetime pledge..,”.

Modifying a bit on Adityanath’s ‘Batenge to Katenge’ slogan, Modi came up with ‘Ek hain to safe hain’ (If Hindus are united they will be safe) putting forward that the Hindu unity is the foundation for keeping them safe from apparently the minorities, because of whom ‘Hindu khatre mein hai’ (Hindus are in danger).

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of BJP not only focused on ‘land jihad’ and ‘vote jihad’, he went on to say that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was one which had the participation of ‘Urban Naxals’ and ‘ultra Left’, apart from some other slogans.

The impact of this was visible not only on polarisation and thereby the voting pattern, but also on social perceptions, as reflected in thousands of WhatsApp groups and drawing room chats in Hindu households.

Christophe Jaffrelot, the outstanding scholar focusing on Hindu Nationalism’s rise in particular, quotes from a study conducted by CSDS (Centre for Study of Developing Societies) from March 28 to April 2024 by scholars. The study tried to elicit the opinions of Hindus about how they see Muslims. In an immaculate study, they solicited answers to questions like “are Muslims not as trustworthy as anyone else, are they being appeased” etc. The study shows the empirical presence of negative perceptions in society overall.

Scholars should also be able to help us how these negative sentiments are worsening over the years and decades. To cap it all, BJP and Modi are trying to say, as reflected in Modi’s speech, that they will not indulge in communal rhetoric. In interviews with journalists, when asked about anti-Muslim speeches during the campaign, Modi responded: “The day I start talking about Hindu-Muslim [in politics], I will be unfit for public life. “I will not do Hindu-Muslim”. That is my resolve.”

The gross difference between what one says and one's actions is so apparent here! It is these perceptions among Hindus that leads to an atmosphere of hate in the country. The spiral of hate is worsening by the day. It is leading to ghettoisation on the one hand, and pushing the Muslim community toward ‘second class citizenship’, on the other.

How should one combat this divisiveness? There is a need to inculcate among the people the alternative narrative which was the base of India’s freedom movement, the narrative which talks of the syncretic traditions of India, the narrative which led to the unity of people of all religions to participate in the freedom movement, the values of which are enshrined in our Constitution.