Law and Policy Research Institute, a Bengaluru-based group, has filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra
Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI – Dangerous Speech Project, a rights group based in the United States, has raised concerns as leaders of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) continue to make hate speeches targeting Muslims during election rallies across the country.
In a statement released on Monday, the group specifically mentioned the controversial remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajasthan’s Banswara during the election rally on 21 April in which he had called Muslims “infiltrators” and “the people who have many children”.
“This clearly demonstrates a hallmark of dangerous speech that we call ‘Threat to Group Integrity or Purity’. It’s a tactic used by speakers to assert that members of another group can cause irreparable damage to the integrity or purity of one’s own group,” the statement said.
It added: “In his speech, Modi frames Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, who seek to steal the ‘hard-earned money’ of Modi’s audience, in a classic example of this hallmark.”
The group pointed out that hate speeches targeting Muslims have risen dramatically.
Quoting the observations made by one of its researchers, Vishnu Porithiyil, the statement asserted: “India has become a de facto Hindu theocracy, where institutional protections for democracy have been permanently damaged and made subservient to the interests of fundamentalists in power.” This context is crucial in understanding how the overwhelming amount of hateful and dangerous speech spread by Modi and his party goes largely unchecked, it said.
The group also mentions a report by the Washington-based group India Hate Lab, a sister organisation of Hindutva Watch, which documented 668 cases of hate speeches in 2023. It specifically mentioned the case of Telangana BJP legislator T. Raja Singh who had made the highest number of hate speeches while 75% of the speeches were made in the BJP-ruled states.
During the ongoing general elections, there are reports and videos of BJP leaders making hate speeches targeting Muslims every day. In Delhi, BJP leader Kapil Mishra on Saturday made inflammatory remarks about Muslims describing them as the ones who have many children and who are taking away the rights of others. The video of the speech went viral on social media.
Law and Policy Research Institute, a Bengaluru-based group, filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Mishra on Monday.
The complaint noted “Mr. Mishra, in a display of utter contempt for democratic norms and societal harmony, delivered a vitriolic diatribe infused with venomous hate speech and divisive rhetoric, intended to incite communal discord and sow the seeds of separatism. His words, dripping with malice, resonate with a sinister intent to foment division and bigotry amongst the populace”.
The complaint said that Mishra shamelessly propagated falsehoods and baseless allegations, invoking communal sentiments regarding the reservations.
Demanding action against Mishra, the complaint said “the egregious nature of Mr. Mishra’s actions demands swift and decisive action. His wanton disregard for the sanctity of the electoral process and the principles of democracy cannot be countenanced.”
