PM Modi continues anti-Muslim hate speech in election rallies
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has continued to spread anti-Muslim propaganda in his speeches. At rallies in Gujarat and Telangana, Modi reiterated that Muslims must be stripped of benefits provided by the reservation system, the Indian equivalent of affirmative action for disenfranchised minorities. He also claimed that India’s opposition party, if voted to power, would distribute the nation’s wealth among Muslims.
Despite multiple complaints against the anti-Muslim campaign launched by BJP leaders, the federal body regulating elections in India has taken no action.
Senior BJP ministers threaten to seize Muslims’ inheritance, spew anti-Muslim hate
In Solapur, Maharashtra, Hindu militant monk and state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made similar claims, and further declared that the opposition party intends to “make India an Islamic nation with a Taliban-style government” – a blatant lie aimed at demonizing Islam and Muslims as well as the opposition party. At another rally in Birbhum, West Bengal, Adityanath threatened to forcibly seize Muslims’ inheritance assets.
During an election rally in West Bengal, federal minister Amit Shah referred to the opposition party as a “a government of Mullas, Madrassas and Mafia” and repeated Modi’s anti-Muslimtalking points by saying that the Opposition party, if voted to power, would redistribute the nation’s wealth among Muslims.
Hindu extremist leaders make open calls for violence against Muslims
In BJP-ruled Gujarat’s Udhna, a leader of the Hindu militant group Vishwa Hindu Parishad called on Hindus to take up arms against Muslims. In Kota, Rajasthan, religious preacher and Hindu extremist Sadhvi Saraswati delivered a speech calling for violence against Muslims.
In Bharatpur, Rajasthan, Hindu religious preacher Swami Sachidanand delivered a hate speech against Muslims and Christians. He promoted anti-Muslim conspiracy theories like spit jihad and love jihad and invented another conspiracy- “nai jihad” (barber jihad).
India witnessed 134 instances of free speech violations this year, says report
Since the beginning of the year, India has witnessed at least 134 instances of free speech violations in the country, according to a study by the watchdog, Free Speech Collective.
The highest number of internet shutdowns were due to the farmers’ protest. Violence-ridden Manipur had the longest internet shutdown for about 8 months. Government orders, aided by legal provisions, also resulted in the blocking of websites like Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab that track hate speech. Online discussions around the time of the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, resulted in the blocking of more than a hundred social media accounts.
“With false narratives, deliberate disinformation and hate speech dominating the electoral agenda, the space for verified information, the voicing of dissent or even raising serious debate has all but disappeared,” the statement read.
