“Halal from Hamas: How anti-Muslim hate speech is spreading in India Islamophobia News”

India saw an average of nearly two incidents of anti-Muslim hate speech per day in 2023, and three out of every four of those incidents – or 75 percent – ​​occurred in states ruled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party revealed a report released on Monday.

In the upcoming months India is going to be the national voting, a first-of-its-kind report by IHL maps the prevalence of anti-Muslim hate speech across the country. The group has documented that there were a total 668 incidents of hate speech.

The new report – the first time a research group has tracked incidents of hate speech in India over the course of a year – tracks how the incidents spread geographically across India, the motivations behind the incidents, and when they occurred. 

The group documented a total of 668 incidents of hate speech across 18 states and three territories administered by the federal government. 118 incidents in Maharashtra, Uttar 104 incidents in north Pradesh, and 65 incidents in the central Madhya Pradesh were the top Indian states.

These three states are among the largest voter bases, currently ruled by the BJP, and together account for 43 percent of the total hate speech incidents recorded in 2023.

But relatively small states, such as Haryana and Uttarakhand in northern India, were not immune.

While Haryana accounted for 48 incidents of hate speech, or about 7.2 percent, incidents in Uttarakhand accounted for 6 percent – ​​both states are among the emerging hotbeds of anti-Muslim violence. 

In August 2023, seven people were killed and over 70 injured in violence in Haryana’s Noh area. Earlier this month, five Muslims were killed while protesting against the demolition of a mosque and a religious school in the town of Haldwani in Uttarakhand.

According to the report, 498 incidents of hate speech, which constitute 75 per cent, occurred in BJP-ruled states or areas effectively governed by the central government. Six of the 10 states with the highest incidence of hate speech were ruled by the BJP throughout the year. 

Three other states, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh, held legislative elections in 2023, in which power changed hands: Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh went from the opposition Congress party to the BJP, and Karnataka from the BJP to the Congress. 

The last 10 states that were governed by an opposition coalition were the most hateful speeches until the last month especially when its chief minister defected to join the BJP-led coalition.

Theories included “Love Jihad”, an alleged phenomenon where Muslim men persuade Hindu women to marry them and convert to Islam. “Land Jihad”, which alleged that Muslims built religious structures they are encroaching on public lands by doing or offering prayers. 

Halal Jihad, which involves the Islamic practices as the economic exclusion of non-Muslim traders. And Population Jihad, which alleges that Muslims intend to eventually outnumber and dominate other populations.