WASHINGTON: 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 programs and electrification drives, benefit all communities.
April recorded the highest monthly spike, 158 events, with nearly 100 occurring between April 22, after a deadly militant attack in India-administered Kashmir, and May 7, when four days of deadly fighting broke out between India and Pakistan.
