Anti-minority hate speech in India rose by 13% in 2025, US research group says

Members of police stand as vehicles burn after clashes erupted due to demands over removal of the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, in Nagpur, India, Mar 17, 2025. REUTERS

Hate speech against minorities including Muslims and Christians in India rose by 13 percent in 2025, with most incidents occurring in states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, a Washington-based research group said on Tuesday.

India Hate Lab documented 1,318 instances of what it called hate speech in 2025, up from 1,165 in 2024 and 668 in 2023, at events such as political rallies, religious processions, protest marches and cultural gatherings.

Of that number, 1,164 incidents occurred in states and union territories governed by the BJP, either directly or with coalition political parties, the group said.

The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Modi and his party deny being discriminatory and say their policies, including food subsidy programmes and electrification drives, benefit all communities.

April recorded the highest monthly spike, 158 events, with nearly 100 occurring between Apr 22, after a deadly Islamist militant attack in India-administered Kashmir, and May 7, when four days of deadly fighting broke out between India and Pakistan.

Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say abuse of minorities has risen in India since Modi took office in 2014, pointing to a religion-based citizenship law the UN calls "fundamentally discriminatory," anti-conversion legislation that challenges freedom of belief, the 2019 removal of Muslim-majority Kashmir's special status, and the demolition of Muslim-owned properties.

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

India Hate Lab says it uses the UN's definition of hate speech, which defines it as prejudiced or discriminatory language towards an individual or group based on attributes including religion, ethnicity, nationality, race or gender.