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Key Points
India recorded 1,318 verified in-person hate speech events in 2025, a 13% increase from 2024 and a 97% rise from 2023. Such events were fueled by elections and the April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack.
Muslims were targeted in 98% of incidents, while hate speech against Christians rose by 41% over the previous year. The main themes covered were conspiracy theories, calls for violence and dehumanisation.
88% of incidents occurred in states governed by the BJP or associates. 6 of the top 10 hate speech actors are top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Yogi Adityanath.
A recent report by India Hate Lab (IHL), an initiative tracking hate speech and hate crimes in India, documented at least 1,318 verified in-person hate speech events nationwide in 2025. The report highlighted “a new baseline of permissiveness for the public expression of hate.” India witnessed a further escalation in public hate speech targeting religious minorities – specifically Muslims and Christians – since an ‘unprecedented surge’ in such events in 2024.
The figure represents a 13% increase from 2024, when 1,165 incidents were recorded, and a 97% increase from 2023, when the total stood at 668. Hate speeches were recorded across 21 states, one Union Territory, and NCT Delhi, averaging nearly four hate speech events per day. The report noted that the phenomenon has become increasingly routine and institutionalised across political, religious, and social platforms – shifting from an episodic campaign tactic to a continuous and normalized instrument of mobilization and governance.
Of the 1,318 documented events, 1,289 incidents, or 98%, targeted Muslims. In 1,156 cases, Muslims were explicitly singled out, while in 133 cases, Muslims and Christians were targeted together. This marks an increase of nearly 12% from the 1,147 anti-Muslim incidents recorded in 2024.
Hate speech against Christians also rose sharply. The report recorded 162 anti-Christian incidents, accounting for 12% of all events. This reflects a 41% increase from the 115 incidents documented in 2024, signalling what the report describes as the growing normalization of anti-Christian rhetoric within the same ecosystem that has historically targeted Muslims.
According to IHL, the surge seen in 2024 did not subside in 2025. Instead, it consolidated. Hate speech continued throughout the year, including during non-election periods, indicating what the report characterises as a strategic shift toward sustained mobilisation rather than reactive or event-driven spikes.
Political rallies, religious processions, nationalist gatherings, and protest marches remained the primary sites for in-person hate speech. High-stakes elections in Delhi and Bihar, alongside local body polls, served as catalysts for intensified rhetoric. The report notes that hate speech was increasingly deployed even in municipal and local elections, which were historically focused on civic issues rather than identity-based mobilisation.
April 2025 recorded the highest monthly spike, with 158 hate speech events, coinciding with Ram Navami processions and rallies organised following the Pahalgam terror attack. In the 16-day period between 22 April and 7 May 2025, IHL documented 98 in-person hate speech events, indicating rapid and nationwide mobilisation.
Geographically, hate speech incidents were heavily concentrated in states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), either independently or through coalition partners. According to the report, 1,164 incidents, or 88%, occurred in BJP-ruled states and UTs. This represents a 25% increase from the 931 such incidents recorded in these jurisdictions in 2024.
By contrast, seven opposition-ruled states recorded 154 hate speech events, a 34% decrease from the 234 incidents documented in those states the previous year.
The five states and territories with the highest number of incidents were Uttar Pradesh (266), Maharashtra (193), Madhya Pradesh (172), Uttarakhand (155), and Delhi (76). Together, these accounted for roughly two-thirds of all recorded hate speech events in 2025.
Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of hate speech incidents at 266, accounting for about 20% of all such incidents in 2025. Maharashtra, in second place, stood out for the intensity of incitement. The state recorded 78 ‘dangerous’ speeches and nearly 40% of Maharashtra’s 193 hate speech events involved explicit calls for violence, the highest proportion recorded for any state.
Nearly half of all hate speeches in 2025 referenced conspiracy theories. The report documents 656 speeches invoking tropes such as “love jihad,” “land jihad,” “population jihad,” “vote jihad,” “education jihad,” “drug jihad,” and “thook jihad.” This reflects a 13% increase from the previous year.
According to IHL, these narratives function to portray minorities as organized aggressors and to frame discriminatory or punitive responses as acts of self-defence. The report notes that such rhetoric is often rapidly translated into policy initiatives, including restrictive anti-conversion laws and administrative actions targeting minority communities.
308 speeches, or 23%, contained explicit calls for violence, while 136 speeches included direct calls to arms. Additionally, 120 speeches called for social or economic boycotts of minorities, primarily Muslims, marking an 8% increase from 2024.
A total of 276 speeches called for the removal or destruction of places of worship, including mosques, shrines, and churches. The Gyanvapi Mosque and the Shahi Idgah Mosque in Uttar Pradesh were among the most frequently targeted sites.
Dehumanising language appeared in 141 speeches, with minorities described using terms such as “termites,” “parasites,” “insects,” “pigs,” “mad dogs,” “snakelings,” “green snakes,” and “bloodthirsty zombies.”
The report identifies a highly organised ecosystem behind the spread of hate speech. More than 160 organisations and informal groups were identified as organisers or co-organisers of hate speech events in 2025.
Affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, emerged as the most frequent organisers, linked to 289 events, or 22% of all incidents. Other groups, such as the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad and Sakal Hindu Samaj, also played significant roles.
Among individuals, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami emerged as the most prolific hate speech actor, delivering 71 speeches in 2025. He was followed by Pravin Togadia, chief of Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, with 46 speeches and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay with 35. 6 of the top 10 actors are prominent BJP politicians, including Amit Shah, T Raja Singh, and Yogi Adityanath.
Other key proliferators were religious leaders, members of paramilitary organisation, and social media influencers. The involvement of senior political leaders, the report notes, challenges the framing of hate speech as fringe activity and instead points to top-down political signalling.
Videos from 1,278 of the 1,318 events were first shared or live-streamed on social media. Facebook accounted for 942 first uploads, followed by 246 on YouTube, 67 on Instagram, and 23 on X. The report notes that this rapid amplification contradicts platform policies that claim to prohibit hate speech, creating what it describes as an environment of digital impunity.
The BJP-led Union government did not meaningfully address the surge in hate speech during 2025. In response to parliamentary questions, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju declined to provide data, citing public order as a state subject.
The Supreme Court showed restraint during the year. In November 2025, a bench stated it was not inclined to monitor every incident of hate speech nationwide, directing petitioners to approach high courts and local police. Earlier, in October 2022, the Court had observed that a “climate of hate prevails in the country.”
One notable development was the passage of the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025, which prescribes imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of ₹50,000 for hate crimes. The report describes this as a defining legislative moment, while also noting that such efforts remain fragmented and limited to the state level. The bill has also been criticized for not adequately distinguishing between hate speech and hate crimes, while extending undue authority to the State for curbing free speech.
The report concludes that 2025 marked a decisive moment in the normalization and routinization of anti-minority hate in India. With sustained mobilisation, political sanction, and digital amplification, hate speech has become an ordinary feature of public life, leaving minority communities increasingly vulnerable to discrimination, hostility, and violence.
India Hate Lab (IHL) is a project of the Washington-based think tank Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH). The project is run by US-based Kashmiri journalist Raqib Hameed Naik. The initiative monitors and tracks hate speeches, crimes and actors in India. Since there is no universal national definition of hate speech, IHL refers to the United Nation’s classification: “any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.”
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