• Pahalgam, India-Pakistan hostilities drive hate speech with 98 incidents reported in 16 days
• India Hate Lab report says 88pc incidents occurred in territories ruled by Modi’s party; records 13pc rise from previous year

ISLAMABAD: More than 1,318 incidents of hate speech against non-Hindu citizens, particularly Muslims, were documented in India last year, with 88 per cent of the incidents reported in states and territories where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power, said India Hate Lab and Centre for Study of Organised Hate in its report.

On average, four hate speech events occurred per day, which marks a 13pc increase from 2024, and 97pc increase from 2023, when 668 such incidents were recorded, said the report. According to the report, 98pc of the speeches targeted Muslims: explicitly in 1,156 cases and alongside Christians in 133 cases. This represents an increase of nearly 12 per cent from the 1,147 instances recorded in 2024.

The biggest spike came after the April Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir, wherein over 20 people were slain by gunmen. “April recorded the highest monthly spike, with 158 hate speech events coinciding with Ram Navami processions and hate rallies organised in response to the Pahalgam terror attack,” the report said.

In the 16-day period between April 22 and May 7, following the Pahalgam attack and preceding active hostilities between India and Pakistan, 98 in-person hate speech events were documented, indicating rapid and nationwide anti-Muslim mobilisation, it said.

Similarly, the hate speech against Christian accounted for 12pc of all events, with only 29 cases explicitly targeting the Christian community. “This represents a nearly 41 percent increase from the 115 anti-Christian hate speech incidents documented in 2024.”

Uttar Pradesh topped the hate speech hotspots with 266 incidents, followed by Maharashtra with 193 cases, Uttarakhand with 155, while the capital territory Delhi, recorded 76 events of hate speech. It said 1,164 hate speech incidents (88pc) occurred in states governed by the BJP, either directly or with coalition partners, as well as in BJP-administered Union Territories, reflecting a 25pc increase from the 931 incidents recorded in 2024. Seven opposition-ruled states recorded 154 hate speech events in 2025, a 34 per cent decrease from the 234 incidents documented in these states in 2024.

Out of the total, at least 308 speeches contained explicit calls for violence, while 136 speeches included direct calls to arms. “Maharashtra recorded the highest number of dangerous speeches, with 78 incidents, up from 64 in 2024. Nearly 40 per cent of the state’s 193 hate speech events involved explicit calls for violence, the highest proportion recorded for any state.”

About 120 hate speeches explicitly called for social or economic boycotts of minority communities, primarily Muslims, 276 speeches called for the “removal or destruction” of worship places, while dehumanising language appeared in 141 speeches.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal emerged as the most frequent organisers, linked to 289 hate speech events (22pc), followed by Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad with 138 events.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami emerged as the most prolific hate-speech actor in 2025, with 71 speeches, followed by Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad chief Pravin Togadia (46) and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay (35).

Videos from 1,278 of the 1,318 hate speech events were first shared or live-streamed on social media platforms. Facebook accounted for 942 of the first uploads, followed by YouTube (246), Instagram (67), and X (23), highlighting the central role of social media in amplifying hate speech.

India Hate Lab, founded by U.S.-based Kashmiri journalist Raqib Hameed Naik, is a project of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a nonprofit Washington-based think tank. The BJP has previously said India Hate Lab presents a biased picture of India.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2026