For the student who is slighted even brazenly discriminated (or even humiliated through a public beating, remember Sahranpur?), or a lawyer who is picked upon and isolated, we have no real measure of how deep and far the poisonous rot has seeped.

For Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) in our Hate Hatao campaign, there is no sweeping this hate under the carpet. To confront, even overcome this toxicity and build allyships with the targets we must begin with giving Voice.

Record and listen to the Voices of India’s discriminated citizen. The Muslim.

Land of the blue hills and red river, Assam, one of India’s seven north-eastern states that is considered a ‘gateway’ to the region, has witnessed its share of consistent hate-letting especially post 2014. This is when a far right government rode to power in the state assembly elections, riding high on the disillusionment and fracturing caused by previous political parties; the same was repeated in 2021. In its second term, the party placed a man known for his sharp vitriol, Himanto Biswas Sarma as chief minister, who missed no opportunity to slur and stigmatise. In fact after the top central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he is after Ajay Bisht aka Adityanath, the poster boy of Hindutva and a hard-line election campaigner, seeking votes after ensuring a cleavage in public sentiments.

Much like the propaganda line in any majoritarian, even fascist state, Sarma in his public speeches attributed many of his state’s “ills” to the Muslim. On May 19, 2023, Sarma, he, quite provocatively, went on to dub the “rise in heart, kidney disease in the state due to excessive use of fertilisers in various food items,” not as caused by fertiliser-driven chemical pollution in general but due to –believe it or not — “fertiliser jihad!” This was an attempt to link the primarily Bengali-Muslim vegetable growers who are known to be active tillers of the Brahmaputra soil as responsible for some sinister design. Sarma, has since made several such inflammatory declarations and he has been unchecked by Indian law enforcement.

For young Nabeel (name changed to protect anonymity), such repeated and brazen hate stigmatising from the powerful, if unchecked will result in an utter alienation of India’s minorities, who already feel isolated and abandoned. Narrating a personal incident of discrimination, he recalls the constant fear of facing violence for observing food and cultural practice.

Mohammed Akhlaq. Lynched to death on September 28, 2015

“My mother and relatives are extremely cautious in public spaces. They look over their shoulder and don’t even pack mutton or chicken in tiffin’s when we leave our homes. Why? Because we have heard of so many instances of public lynching’s over meat, Mohammed Akhlaq and others. This is a fear that we carry with us every day, “ explains Nabeel adding, “instances of regular discrimination in finding housing are now every day, very ordinary. A friend has faced this in Assam. Even I faced such discrimination it in Pune (Maharashtra) when I was there a while ago. All formalities had been completed at the place I was to rent. However, when I met the society manager he told me that I do not fulfil the ‘criteria’ for staying at the place. I pressed on and asked him why, he said finally it is because I am a Muslim! I went on and asked him whether this is a written rule to the effect that a Muslim can’t stay in this residential society, but he gave a vague answer and new to the city, I did not wish to argue with him. This is very common, it happens to almost everyone. Some people face even worse marginalisation and discrimination and violence. This is now an ordinary aspect of life.”

Indian social and political space is today dominated by the far right. This, the Hindutva brigade executes both a social and political project of ensuring the permanent construct of an antagonist picture of Muslims. Be it as a violent race, intolerant, aggressive, traitorous or unclean, the doppelganger to these prototypes is the meat consuming, lascivious, male Muslim who is responsible for the insidious rise in Muslim population. Using repetitive propagandist methods of stigma, these forces have fine-tuned this hate-letting to minute detail, harnessing technology and even music for far reach.

Speaking to CJP, a young Muslim professional narrates, “I think inter-religious discrimination plays out in insidious ways. I remember during my years as a student, my roommate would specify if ever I borrowed her spoon at a meal, to not use it to eat meat or eggs. She was also someone who jokingly stated that I would burn her in a bed if a ‘riot’ were to take place. In another instance, friends would also “joke in passing” about how one should dress “like a criminal” when the reference was to a kurta pyjama. These sort of micro-aggressions remain salient, often not registered, passing off as anything but humour. It not only makes one fearful, but also resentful. I am always afraid for my family members who wear ‘visible symbols of Islam’ when they go out to the market, and especially when they undertake travel. Every instance of travels reminds one of Junaid’s journey who like Akhlaq and so many other were lynched or brutalised and killed, shot even, only because they were Muslim. I lose hope when I see the attackers go scot-free despite evidence.”

This professional also recounts how ‘Muslim areas’ are looked at with stigma.

“Post the anti-CAA protests (December 2019), auto rickshaws and even Uber drivers would refuse to take us to local Muslim areas in the capital, Delhi, Okhla Jamia etc. The rejection would include this, “hum nahin jayenge, wahan per dangai log (rioters) hote hain.’” (We won’t drive there, rioters live there).

The medical profession ought to be above such hate. Every marginalised and slurred section worldwide however has seen racist discrimination manifest in medical practitioners. One Muslim doctor talking to CJP, again on condition of anonymity, spoke of the pressures of conforming, “There is a need for me in my working environment with my colleagues to be less of a Muslim in order to be a ‘better doctor’. I love my profession, I practise it with a lot of discipline. Why would I need to put aside my religion?”

Dr Muniza Khan is a social scientist based in east Uttar Pradesh, Purvanchal. She spoke to us of how fear has gripped hearts of the ordinary Muslim after the brazen proliferation of hate over the past decade, talking about how public spaces have become more restrictive when it comes to Muslims.

“We cannot carry much loved kebabs when we travel in trains or for family picnics. Earlier it used to be a norm, but now it has become impossible; a special segment of life has been sliced away, now that eating habits are being policed so closely. Our families, also nowadays instruct us not to say words such as “Salam” or “Khuda Hafiz” when we are in public.”

Narrating a specifically harrowing experience, Khan narrates how her work in making education accessible to students has also been marred and set back by discrimination.

“We used to have a 70 year old building that was our school. It was, however, demolished by government authorities. So, we tried our best to find a new building. We went to three different colonies, searching for a place for our school. However, at every place we were told point blank that they will not give the place to Muslims. They would ask us, “which biradari (section) are you”, and once I replied that I am a Muslim, they would immediately decline any space available to us. The irony, however is, that at the end we found a building for our school which, although was 12 kms away, was owned by people who were not Muslims. The only distinction was that this space was not within a gated colony.”

Reflecting on another incident, Muniza Khan also recalls about how people once made an allusion to her homeland being Pakistan. Aghast at this, she asserted that India was where she was brought up in and lives and works, why would she belong to Pakistan and not the land she knows to be her home?

Similarly, Shama, another teacher from eastern Uttar Pradesh, asks about why and how the taboo on meat is a “paabandi” prohibition of dietary habits, despite existing constitutional provisions.

“In our area, meat is completely banned during the 10 days of Dussehra. There is a flurry of enquiries and checking’s on a regular basis. Schools and colleges also enforce vegetarianism and don’t permit students bringing meat in their lunchboxes.” Talking about shared experiences over food with classmates, she asks, “What freedom is this?”

Another, lawyer based in North India, shares her experience of discrimination during past classroom interactions with faculty members, “They would come with preconceived judgements about Muslims and Muslim figures that would just boil over into debates. The right-wing students in the classroom would also hum in agreement, notwithstanding the Muslim students in class. In law firms and think-tanks, the environment would be mostly dominated by non-Muslims, I would often be the only Indian Muslim in these spaces, which would lead to a sense of isolation, alienation and often, during these debates, a feeling of being cornered deliberately.”

The experience of another Muslim lawyer practising in India in the western Indian state of Gujarat reveals hair-raising incidents   everyday humiliation and discrimination faced by the community. On condition of anonymity, the individual has stated that his friends don’t talk to him, that they feel the stigma he faces for working for social issues will reach them. “I am left tanha.” Going further, he narrates how bail listings are delayed and rejected for him because of the particular impression the courts have of him. “My bail hearing gets listed for later or delayed, even at times when others have gotten bail in a similar case charged with the same offence, the very day with ease. It so often happens that bail is then granted in a case only when it is taken up by another lawyer, not a Muslim, after I give a no objection. They see me as someone who only fights for the cases of Muslims which is not true. I often take up cases of other communities, including those from marginalised castes. My colleagues from different religions don’t wish to stand next to me, they engage in mocking me, and after that, resort to avoiding me. These instances are not just faced by me, but my daughters too. One of my daughters was enrolled in a technical course at a reputed institute for a year. However, a few months before her course was about to end, her institute got to know that her father was involved in cases fighting for justice for the marginalised. Immediately after that the instructors started behaving differently with her, they delayed her course, which was supposed to end by the middle of 2023, but it is still ongoing. They would keep delaying the course duration and telling her they would teach her ‘separately from other students’. They seem to just want to stall and delay till she loses interest and hope that she herself opts out without completing the degree.

“My youngest daughter too has faced similar issues in her school. She is a fantastic painter and she won the first prize at competitions twice. However, last time she was rejected and not selected from participating in a competition by the school despite her excellent history. Her morale was broken after that. This is what is done, you make a person lose all their hope and morale. Other advocates that I know from the Muslim community face similar issues. They are humiliated in front of their clients and their morale too is broken down publicly. This happens very often. The whole body is punctured (bit by bit), so you really don’t need to draw blood at all.”

The misguided notion of being beneficiaries of “appeasement politics” too proliferates in India and has become part of the extreme right narrative. Appeasement politics is a rhetorical term used by some political parties like the BJP to counter any demands for minority rights and to portray Muslims as people who have taken undue benefits from the government and the country. The miss-placed argument is that Muslims are undue beneficiaries of “too many passes” and financial and monetary benefits by previous governments. This operates primarily on the assumption that Muslims are secondary citizens and should not ask from the government anything more than their basic rights, because they are not authentic Indians.

Over the years, several conspiracies of Muslims looting land, marrying for mass conversions, and attaining higher ranks in the public services as part of a sinister design to take over India have proliferated. Just this year in October, 2023, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, had reportedly given a hate speech where he proudly talked about how he had demolished several religious shrines because they were part of a conspiracy by Muslims to commit “land” and “mazaar jihad.” Many of these conspiracies hatch on everyday normal tasks such as marriage, buying land, performing one’s professional tasks or studying for exams that now become a catalyst for suspicion and fear making public spaces, such as workplace, classroom, public travel, unsafe for Muslims.

Over the past decade especially –though the phenomenon first saw a spurt in decades of the 1980 and 1990s—such hate speech has been proliferating in India with many of its propagators being part of a wide eco-system of organisations wedded to the project to convert India away from a constitutional republic to a theocratic, authoritarian state. In the political arena, it is the members of the ruling BJP who spout hate with immunity. Speech that spews slur and hate is also indicative of the prejudices and typologies of violence Muslims, and other minorities, in India face from a growing tide of discriminatory politics.

In India itself latest reports indicate an alarming 500% surge in cases filed under India’s hate-speech law over the past seven years, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Danish Ali  Image source: Telegraph India.

There were 255 incidents of hate speech documented at gatherings that targeted Muslims in the first half of 2023 alone. The report further exposes that a staggering 80% of hate speech events transpired in states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Several incidents, including those involving top official leaders such as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, have been recorded over the year. Similarly, MP Danish Ali was subjected to slurs in the parliament itself by BJP MP Ramesh Bhiduri. Amongst other abuses and slurs, the MP was also called a “terrorist.” Furthermore, there is a clear link between the use of hate speech to foment communal sentiment and lead to anti-Muslim violence, as we saw in the case of Satara this year, which saw widespread violence, which led to houses and mosques being burned as well as the death of one young Muslim man. Local BJP leader Vikram Pawaskar stood accused of orchestrating and fuelling violence against Muslims between August and September 2023.

While large-scale discrimination and violence against Muslims has been recorded by some officials and several government and non-government agencies, the significance of how this intricately woven hate affects microscopic aspects of life that go unexamined is worthy of note.

The persistent shaping of a divisive image, portraying Muslims as the “Jihadi”, wherein immediately an image of an evil, violent and menacing figure comes to mind.

Discrimination in housing is a well-recorded phenomenon. In fact the land that is India deeply discriminated against the Dalit untouchables by compelling this section to live out of the precincts of the village and not even access water from a common well. Today, over past decades, Muslims have clearly been notched into this brutally excluded category.

According to a survey conducted by Saugato Datta and Vikram Pathania in a paper titled “For whom does the phone (not) ring? Discrimination in the rental housing market in Delhi, India”, it was discovered that discrimination in housing is extremely pervasive for Muslims and Hindus. The survey details that the probability that a landlord gets back to an upper caste Indian is 0.35, while for a Muslim applicant it is only 0.22. The article details that an upper caste applicant would have to send 29 queries for housing, whereas a Muslim person would have to search almost twice as much 45.10 queries to be able to get a response.

The internet has been proliferated with multiple unscientific theories surrounding meat-eating, colouring such practices with an inherent impurity attached to the consumption of meat. Attacks by cow vigilante groups or attacks against Muslims who are suspected of eating meat have whipped this societal hysteria up further. Add to this potent base, scrutiny and prejudice associated with religious attire such as skullcaps, hijabs, and burqas etc. And the othering is near complete.

A hope for harmony

 Though sharp and distressing, amidst these varied testimonies also lies an underlying even desperate sense of hope for a lost harmony and shared humanity. Hamza, a professional in the development sector, residing in the capital, New Delhi, offers a slightly different take on the situation.

“There is a need for Muslims to push towards education; it is something we lack.” He further discusses the need for a more enthusiastic participation in public life by Muslims, saying “Say for instance, there is a cricketer who’s played excellently for India, we (Muslims) should congratulate him visibly on social media. There is a shared sentiment in India that “these people” (Muslims) only deal with aspects that concern ‘them and their faith’. There is a necessity to work very, very hard to counter such claims. We really need to work harder.”

Narrating an incident, Hamza Khan recalls, “We really need to get out of the ghetto that this hate wants to push us into and participate actively, increase our education levels, although they have improved somewhat.” Citing an incident from his residential colony from the last Diwali he adds, “Last Diwali we all decided to collect some money collectively to give gifts to security guards and other personnel. All the Muslim families in the vicinity put in money and took the initiative. In fact we saw that people from other community members also admired the initiative and expressed the sadness that they too did not participate.”

However, poet and writer, Hussain Haidry reflects on how firmly entrenched and pervasive propaganda and otherisation of Muslims has become.

“What has happened is that the otherisation is pretty much complete. Now it is very difficult to not be spotted as a Muslim under any circumstance, in any room. Today, I couldn’t pass off (without my identity). Identity is obvious.

“Secondly, while there may not be physical violence, because my class capital and social capital afford me some protections. But, this also exposes you (me) to online attacks, which can easily translate into real life by harming your career and lead to social and economic ostracisation. There may not be an imminent physical threat as such, but online attacks can also affect and attack my career since my livelihood is dependent on that.

“It’s just not the same since 2014 (elections) happened. Not just in the sense that discrimination has increased, but also in the sense that if there is road rage, if this is targeted at a Muslim, me, this can be terminal. Regular conflict can happen between anybody in India. But, for a Muslim, a very harmless tiff can become violently communal. This is something that also contributes to fear.

“See, what happens is, the propaganda swirls, repeatedly sent to non-Muslims, it seeps into their psyche, it builds a new found bias or it creates a misconception and this happens across economic class, caste, gender, age; it is in all forms, at every level. This propaganda exists and is being promoted in every medium, every kind of content, in public spaces such as bus stops, literally everywhere. The content is either pro-Hindutva, pro-BJP or anti-opposition or anti-Muslim. These formulations then collectively reflect in the majority’s psyche, speech and macro-behaviour. This effect reflected in behaviour, enters into vocabulary, after affecting thought and mental attitudes. It is unclear whether it is society that is reinforcing prejudice through propaganda, or it is propaganda that renews this and re-creates and re-enforces this prejudice. It is however so widespread, present across a diverse population, and sadly, the brunt of it is borne by Muslims.”

Related:

Were all Muslims previously Hindus?

Distorting facts about Muslim population growth at the Digital Hindu Conclave

Hate Hatao: CJP’s Campaign against Hate and Division

“Don’t pray for Palestine,” Delhi Police reportedly warns mosque imams

The post 2023: Muslims speak up on life amid targeted hatred appeared first on SabrangIndia.

For the past months, the western state of Rajasthan has been peppered with fuelled hate, inciting prejudice against Muslims, the game plan being to polarise voting-behaviour as the assembly elections approach. Rajasthan goes to polls on November 23. The socio-political moves from ultra, right-wing organisations like VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal and their mushrooming affiliates have considerably grown in the past few months. The opposition either remains silent or feebly attempts to bust the manipulated hate. It is therefore important to take note of the existing reality, the everyday, heart-warming instances of lived positives that are the natural foil to both fake news and hate-speech. We must also question why psychologists suggest to stay away from the toxic news-shows and why independent journalists like Ravish Kumar recommend that the rational citizens should not consume the godi-media news or irrational information from news hour anchors? These everyday stories of hope are a frequent reminder of our treasured Ganga-Jamuni heritage.

The pink city of Jaipur, the light flickers of the Jodhpur, the vibrant folk art, colourful embroidery, the legacy of classic music and dance have been fascinating people from different places and communities for decades. Travellers imbibe these sparks of stars to strengthen their footsteps and invoke the path ahead. CJP has a regular monitor in its Nafrat ka Naqsha. While we log in data of peppered hate —during April, 2023 CJP has taken note of the spiteful Trishul distribution events in Rajasthan, where the speakers provoked the Hindu mob against the minority via manufactured narratives and impelled them for violence—we need to also constantly record the welcome reprieve from everyday harmony. These instances are also important means to counter the injustices caused by hate and exclusion.

Over just a few short weeks, Rajasthan has also witnessed tales of courage and syncretic sagacity which can fortify the foothold of our everyday religious harmony.

Barmer

Rajasthan consists of a considerably low ratio of Muslim population and most of the districts are dominated by the Hindu community. Several times, orthodox norms, misogyny, communalism and casteism have spilt and resulted in the brutal incidents of discrimination, still wise and grounded people have not left believing in the ethos of accord. In the Barmer district of Rajasthan, many villages have celebrated the pious month of Ramzan. Gohad ka tala, Aarbi ki Gafan, Saroope ka tala and Navatala villages own the legacy of partition when a throng of citizens from Pakistan came and got shelter in adjoining districts. Some villagers are even followers of Peer-Pithora who has an enormous fan-following in Sindh, Pakistan.

A report in LiveHindustan tells us they have been following the Islamic rituals during the month of Ramzan for decades. The cultural similarity and parallel values fix them through the yarn of affection where no communal barriers exist to differentiate and boost the trenches. They wake up at Sehri (the early morning ritual), keep Roza (fast), do Iftar (break the fast) and offer Namaz with a noteworthy bravura. Sharing food and prayers on the same ‘Dastarkwan’ ( place food mat) while several streets are swelling up with the clatter and chaos of hateful slogans is beautiful enough to melt down the mountains of prejudices.

Jaipur  

In the similar way, Jaipur, particularly known for its historical- cultural significance has also witnessed a similar instance where citizens have crossed the walls of religion and division of faith.

As reported by The New Indian Express, Rajendra Bagadi from the pink city was suffering from cancer and unfortunately, he lost his life during the brutal Covid-19 pandemic. However, the local Muslims came to the forefront and took the responsibility of rituals while Rajendra’s wife and children accompanied them. Showing a true spirit of fraternity and humanitarian principle, they supported the family during such a fragile time.  At the time, the video of Muslims performing the last rites of this Hindu man also went viral on the social-media portals where netizens hailed this story via powerful comments and appreciation.

Karauli

The recently released Bollywood fiction movie, ‘Afwah’ sheds some light on the element of fake news and hate speech in the city of Rajasthan. But what do people do when a hate-incident takes place or when rumours flutter to rouse ferocity? Most of the time, the herd has no time (nor inclination) to fact-check or scrutinise the veracity of the information being peddled, but they do spend time and energy to spread the poison.

Madhulika Rajput, a middle-aged lady who runs a shop in the town was not among them. She gave shelter to the Muslim men when a ferocious Hindu mob was chasing them. The violent crowd was also repeating the catchphrase of ‘Jai Shri ram’ but she took a sane step by saving the Muslim men inside the complex. While expressing her perplexities regarding the mishap she said – ‘They asked if anyone was hiding, but I said no one was here. I did not want the riot to spread further.’

Around 35 people got wounded during the bout but her wisdom has set an example against growing communalism. It’s also a powerful response to those chauvinists who underestimate the bravery of their women among conflict.

The word ‘Rajasthan’ translates into ‘the land of kings’. Now it depends on us whether we want to nurture the kings of hate, autocracy and oppression or we choose ordinary people who display, every day, a deep understanding of humanity while saving the crux of democracy.

Related:

An oasis of Sufi harmony, Hazrat Nizamuddin’s tomb stands out

Everyday Harmony: Muslim Man Risks Life To Save A Hindu Girl From Drowning In Madhya Pradesh

Love & Harmony over Hate: Int’l Day to Counter Hate speech, CJP’s unique efforts

The post Hate speech does not mar everyday harmony in poll-pound Rajasthan appeared first on SabrangIndia.

UPDATE:  June 1, 2023

Unfortunately, the shareholders of Meta Platforms Inc. have voted against an inquiry into allegations of hate speech dissemination and concerns about content moderation in India at their annual general meeting on May 31. At the AGM meeting which was attended by Founder Mark Zuckerberg, senior executives and nine members of Meta’s board, among others, shareholders of the company voted against Proposal 7, which was titled , which was titled ‘Assessing Allegations of Biased Operations in Meta’s Largest Market’ as a voting matter. Details of the numbers for and against are not available yet.

The proposal was put forth by Eko, a non-profit advocacy that campaigns to hold corporations accountable on social issues. The details of the vote were tweeted by the Internet Freedom Foundation, which has been campaigning alongside Eko to raise awareness on Proposal 7 in India.

Internet Freedom Foundation, part of the campaign vowed to carry on the fight for accountability.

The Proposal also outlined how, content moderation in India is undercut by poor capacity of Meta’s “misinformation classifiers” (algorithms) and its human moderators to recognize many of India’s 22 officially recognized languages,” the proposal had said.

It is however noteworthy that the Meta’s board had already recommended shareholders to vote against the proposal, citing that the company already has been undertaking efforts to address these.

“The requested report is unnecessary and would not provide additional benefit to our shareholders,” it had said in a proxy statement prior to the AGM

Who cast the first stone is a time-tested journalistic ethic developed by me through this hard experience, buffeted by the findings of three dozen or more judicial commission reports appointed to Inquire into bouts of Communal Violence since the 1960s, all overseen by sitting and retired senior judges that I have closely studied. The learning: hate speech plays a crucial role in escalating the conflict, provocative words and writing and through their systemic use and dissemination, stigmatization carefully nurses a social atmosphere conducive to the outbreak of targeted violence. The majority, made complicit by this hate-mongering stays silent, the police infected by this steady dose of prejudicial ideas, manipulated histories and verbally violent stigmatization, fails to act to protect lives, in a more acute stage of complicity even participates in the violence.

Yet nothing in my lived experience quite prepared me for the scale of hatred against Muslims (and Christians, even Dalits and Women) that has been unleashed after Narendra Modi, of the majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party, was elected as Prime Minister in 2014, and especially since his re-election in 2019. Islamophobia, and other anti-minorities hate has not only become “the new normal” in the New India, we see empirical evidence of this everyday as our teams at Citizens for Justice and Peace monitor and document in a series of reports, as part of our campaign “Hate Hatao.” Hate generation through unchecked alogrithms on social media, especially Meta Facebook with 314 million users in India has made the amplification seriously threatening.

Hate is today a State Project in India where the political formation in power, its vigilante organisations & brown shirts are mentally and physically armed through hate propaganda to violently harm religious minorities, women, Dalits targets. Prejudiced Ideas, Acts of Prejudice, Discrimination, Violence – four stages prior to Genocide—have been breached.

Hateful rhetoric against Muslims most particularly –though the Christian minority, Dalits, Women and other Sexual minorities are far from immune–is broadcast through various channels: Whatsapp forwards, television shows, digital media, political rallies, even some newspaper articles authored by votaries of an altered nation state, proponents of a theocratic autocracy (Hindu Rashtra). A notable change in the editorial pages of print media is the column space given to these “ideologues”, space that affords them a legitimacy in the Indian media and public spectrum. Never mind that the articulation of such an altered state is also anti-Constitutional. By far the most significant outlet for hate speech is social media, in particular, are arguably Facebook and WhatsApp, both platforms that are owned by Meta Inc. Though Musk-owned Twitter and other newer versions are fast catching up!

The women and girls of India’s largest minority have been a debasing target –through 2021 and 2022–through twitter accounts, Github and Clubhouse platforms where the macabre and shameful phenomenon of their auctions has taken place. A Radio Silence from the political leadership in power in New Delhi through all of this clearly signifies consent. Hate Crimes therefore enjoy a high level of impunity. That Facebook can be a participant-platform for this escalation up the genocidal pyramid is both shocking & unacceptable.

Between 1983 when I first began as a reporter of conflict and now, the change is marked. Social media platforms and digital media is the new reality. Both reach a far wider audience that traditional media outlets like newspapers and television. Which is to also say that allow a far wider number of people to both access and—importantly—produce content than mainstream media. India today has over 314 million Facebook users, by far the largest of any country in the world, and over twice of the next largest, the United States, which has 175 million users. This makes social media platforms the ideal medium through which hate-mongering Hindu supremacist politicians and activists can gain a following. To create a political constituency for majoritarianism manipulate FB and create multipliers through content.

Many members of the BJP, its parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and dozens of the spawn outfits that are created with multiple identities (Sakal Hindu Samaj, Hindu Jan Jagruti Sena, Ram Sene are just a few) have spoken candidly about the importance of the use of social media to Hindutva organising and mobilisation.

Some quick examples: In October 2018 we complained to Ms. Ankhi Das, the Public Policy Director, India, South & Central Asia, Facebook about the vandalisation of a Church in Varanasi, St. Thomas Church in the prime minister’s parliamentary constituency, by extremists, some of whom had also previously posted –on Facebook –inflammatory content targeting the Christian community. We received no response.

In 2019, our HateWatch programme had analysed how one elected official of the influential ruling BJP party from a state in the south, Telangana amplified a rumour and added his own hate-filled speech on Facebook where he had half a million viewers. A year earlier, he had called for a vicious economic boycott of “terrorist Kashmiris” during the Amarnath Yatra on a video that has been viewed 3,00,000 times. Finally, he was the central figure flagged in the August 2020 WSJ Report on how the corporation ignored hate speech by BJP leaders in India to protect its business interests. Welcome to T Raja Singh.

By March 2021, when FB finally concluded that he, Raja Singh, had, in fact, violated its own Community standards (Objectionable Content) and Violence and Criminal Behaviour rules, he was finally removed from FB. His Fan Pages with 2,19,430 and another with 17,018 followers, however continue to operate and generate provocative content.

Today, Raja Singh, “suspended” MLA of the ruling BJP has re-emerged in a new on-ground avatar, as one of the latest poster boys of hate for the ruling regime, spreading his venom across the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan. In Maharashtra where the regime faces a tough electoral contest next year (general elections May 2024, state assembly elections Aug-September 2024) he has addressed seven gatherings and has four FIRs against him, in Rajasthan he has one. For his vituperative election speech, CJP has filed a complaint with the state election commission that has been forwarded for further action. Another is Sudarshan News’s notorious Suresh Chavhanke.

Truly emboldened by an all round immunity that he, this “suspended” MLA enjoys, in May 2023, T. Raja Singh, who has in his earlier speeches called for violence against Muslims on multiple occasions, declared the following to an audience in Kota, Rajasthan:

“I want to tell Prime Minister Modi and other ministers that now, no one can stop us from establishing a Hindu nation. India will be an undivided Hindu nation. Through social media, we have to ensure that this message reaches PM Modi. We have to make sure this reaches those Ministers of India that are secular so that they know that secularism will not work in India it will not work in Rajasthan. Now, only the rule of Hindus and Hinduvta will be there.”

In other words, Singh was calling on his followers to take to social media and ask the prime minister to establish a Hindu ethnocracy in India. That an elected member of the legislature, who takes oath under the Constitution to abide by its republican and inclusive principles, is turning to social media to advance his agenda speaks volumes about the important role it plays in Hindutva mobilisation.

Similar stark examples around the Delhi 2020 violence in the capital, Delhi abound. Among these, the Ragini Towari (“kill or die” call), Kapil Mishra, Anjali Verma shrill use of social media, all show that it is the unchecked use of Facebook in non-English languages that is instrumental in the spill and spiral of targeted of violence on the streets. Facebook Inc has formally responded to two complaints sent by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) against hate content made by Ragini Tiwari, stating that they are not in a position to take any action against Tiwari. Instead, Facebook suggested that CJP contact the party directly to get a resolution on the issue!  Then there is also a serial hate offender, Deepak Sharma who Facebook is extremely reluctant to disengage with: we developed a detailed profile of his activities and character through Facebook. We complained, brought it up in writing and at round-tables. With thousands of followers he still enjoys space on the platform. 

Four years before the genocidal call to kill Muslims was made by him in December 2021 which led to a spurt of outrage among some Indians and even some movement in the hate speech case in the Supreme Court, we had been steadily tracking, documenting, reporting and complaining about the man at the centre of the genocidal hate story, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, pointing out the eco-system of hate he has created. During this painstaking process, in November 2018, four years before the genocidal call to kill Muslims was made by him in December 2021, when a CJP member complained about his FB post where he said Hindus should be armed 24X7 to protect their religion and that Islam is cancer, we were told by FB India that this does not go against their community standards but if we have an issue we can either block YATI or unfollow his page. 

In short, we have tried to engage however and whenever given the chance, have had detailed correspondences, have offered more than a dozen and a half of minute case studies and many, more complaints that, have unfortunately resulted in unsatisfactory results. All this work has also been at a risk and cost as the government targeted us venomously.

Where lies the stumbling block?

Despite the FB mega corporation’s own set standards against public safety, hate speech, violence, discrimination, is that Facebook India fails to take cognisance of the local context of supremacist and communally charged politics. Comprehending the difference between hate speech and free speech requires a candid engagement with an understanding of India’s diversity and India’s track record of vicious, targeted communal violence. Allowing such hate content on Facebook also legitimises such content that, even courts have –albeit slowly –recognised.

Facebook’s automated filters which are supposed to filter hate speeches too, falter in India in the non-English languages: Any user can today search for hate content through a handful of ‘key words’, which Facebook does not filter out. (words or terms like “Kattar Hindu” (rigid or fanatical Hindu) पंचर पुत्र पंचर छाप, मुल्ले, मुल्ला, कटुआ, हलाला, हलाला की औलाद, बाबर की औलाद which are particular derogatory/slang terms devised simply escape all filters. (“Panchar”(slang/derogatory term for Muslims who work in automobile garages). In fact there are individuals, groups and pages with the ID Kattar Hindu, they have hundreds of thousands of followers. These. can be found on FB, WhatsApp, Twitter. By the way, all such usage is also violative of Indian Law and Jurisprudence, international law and conventions including the UN’s 2019 Call against Xenophobia and Hate Speech and the 2011 UN Guiding Principle on Business & Human Rights

This then is the other major reason that social media is central to the spread of Islamophobic hate speech is that companies like Meta have been egregiously lax in moderating content on their platforms. At CJP, we      have documented [1] numerous instances of “viral” Islamophobic content on Facebook and WhatsApp that was not taken down, despite violating Meta’s own content moderation regulations, which explicitly debar any speech that vilifies a particular community.

Why is it that Meta tolerates hate speech on its platform? Partly, this is because the company has not invested in content moderation for its India operations, which means that much of the posts published in the country are not properly vetted, especially those in regional languages. At the same time, Meta has faced repeated allegations that its Indian staffers are sympathetic towards the BJP and its agenda and are thus turning a blind eye towards Islamophobic content. This came to the fore during the 2020 Delhi riots, when a video of a Hindu religious leader openly calling for “ethnic cleansing” of Muslims was shared widely on various Meta platforms, and was not taken down, despite numerous reports[2] .

I have mentioned just a few examples. Every day that Hindutva supremacists take to Facebook and WhatsApp to post inflammatory and violent posts targeting Muslims. They do this because they are confident that Meta will not hold them accountable. In effect, then, Meta has created a public space where Islamophobia can flourish with impunity. Indian civil society groups like CJP, Alt News, Hate Speech Beda (based in Karnataka), and others have dedicated significant resources to flagging and reporting hate speech on Meta’s platforms. But these actions can only go so far—indeed, our actions will always be inadequate—until Meta itself takes responsibility for its India platforms. At the end of the day, the company has far greater power than any groups or individuals.

For all these reasons, it is a very significant marker that tomorrow, May 31, hate speech on Meta’s India platforms will be on the agenda at the company’s annual general board meeting. “Proposal 7”—one of thirteen proposals that will be discussed at the meeting—presents the evidence against Meta for spreading Islamophobic hate speech, its inadequate content moderation, and the general lack of transparency around the company’s practices. The shareholders who are attending the meeting have a great opportunity to pressure to act to uphold the rights of Indian Muslims and hold Hindu hate speech mongers to account. . Notably, out of the 13 proposals being put to vote, this is the only one that relates to India, and to the inbuilt bias in AI.  Proposal 7 titled “Assessing Allegations of Biased Operations in Meta’s Largest Market” is to be presented at Meta’s AGM on May 31, 2023. It highlights allegations against Facebook for disseminating hate speech, its failure to address risks and political bias, voices concerns around inadequate content moderation and lack of transparency in platform practices.

This campaign, jointly launched by Ekō, India Civil Watch International (ICWI), and Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), aims to raise awareness about Proposal 7 among users of Meta platforms, the relevant concerns highlighted in the proposal, and urge the shareholders to vote in favour of Proposal 7 by May 31. As part of the campaign, IFF will post everyday, from May 26 till May 31, highlighting instances where Meta has failed to address critical issues effectively. 

The Meta leadership might not care what Indian civil society groups think, but it certainly cares about the opinion of its shareholders.

This piece then ends with an unorthodox appeal from a senior journalist: We call on them to vote YES on Prop 7.

This article first appeared in the print and online The Telegraph edition on May 31, 2023

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“See Muslims techies are aggressive in ensuing about 100% voting in each Election. There are Muslim techies and religious volunteers to help their community people free of cost. They ensure that even a single voter is not left out of voters list and single vote is not wasted. The video will raise your eye brows. This is how micro management Muslims do to achieve their mission of controlling political power. But lakhs of Hindu voters are wiped out from lists and no Hindu cares. Worry about missing hindu voters of BJP support base. Let us Hindu techies , social, religious people volunteer their service to ensure 100% voting in their locality and “No Exclusion” of BJP’s Hindu voters. Build Hindu vote base to control political power.”

On following up with the user who filed the complaint, CJP found that this was a message sent on a WhatsApp group focused on a particular neighbourhood in Bengaluru, which is used to post advertisements, announce events, rentals, and the like. The user is a member, and told CJP that messages targeting the Muslim community had increased in the last three to four months on said WhatsApp group. The user told us that he contacted the admin of the WhatsApp, and said that a strict warning has been issued.

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More than 20 crore Indians use WhatsApp and a larger number have their accounts on Facebook. The rising polarization and hateful rhetoric have led to the murder of almost 22 individuals in child lifting rumours across the country in 2018.
 
There is a steady rise in the number of incidents of mob lynching (around 85) over suspicion of cow slaughter and child lifting and hate crimes according to Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) findings which also are indicators reflecting the prevalence of communal violence in the country.
 
According to data analytics site India Spend, 45 people were killed in 120 cases of cow-related violence reported across India between 2012 and 2018. The highest number of violent incidents were recorded in the state of Uttar Pradesh, with 19 verified incidents of cow-related violence resulting in 11 deaths.
 
US intelligence’s latest edition of worldwide threat assessment report has warned of a spike in communal violence during the parliamentary polls in India if the BJP stresses “Hindu nationalist themes.”
 
What makes Indians kill their own countrymen? How do you plug the hatred that tells you to “Marry pure,” “choose the right caste and class,” the veg – non-veg divide, ‘brown and dark are not beautiful’, ‘fair means lovely’, ‘Muslim means barbaric’, ‘violent and Dalit means dirty and even untouchable’ or ‘Christian is Western and foreign.’
 
Today, prejudice and hatred are being served at every dinner table in the country.
 
“Key to understanding what constitutes hate speech or hate writing is whether it, under scrutiny, affects the equality, fraternity and dignity of any section. Hate speech (writing) by its very nature seeks to diminish the targeted section’s participation in economic, political and social spheres. It attempts to reduce them to second class citizens, to wrest them of their basic rights. A crucial guideline is that inciting hate speech is a means of subordination,” Teesta Setalvad wrote for The Wire.
 
India in 2019 is grappling with the abuse of the free speech doctrine, especially from elected officials holding positions of authority. It is crucial that Indian law, which empowers weaker sections from this misuse of the ‘free speech’ doctrine is invoked when it turns abusive and inciteful against marginalised sections, she said.
 
Her engagement with the politics of hate has been individual and organisational. Through cjp.org.in, her three-decade-long experience has materialised into the HateHatao app.
 
In a growing atmosphere of communal hatred, bigotry, and violence, HateHatao will enable any person to report instances of hate speech, threats, and hate crimes, with the appropriate evidence, such as a screenshot, video or a picture. CJP will then take this up as a complaint to authorities such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Press Council of India (PCI), the National Broadcasters Association (NBA), Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms or law enforcement agencies. In the most serious cases, efforts will be made to lodge FIRs and pursue the cases in court.
 
The HateHatao App will also share tutorials and classes on law and jurisprudence, share how judicial commission reports, analysing bouts of vicious communal violence, have viewed the pernicious role of hate speech.
 
The objective is not simply to monitor the spread, reach and depth of hate speech and writing but to empower citizens in understanding the phenomenon and acting cohesively to nip its spiral and growth. In its essence, it ensures that the helplessness and anger that marginalised sections experience is now channelized into concrete, lawful intervention and action, she said.
 
Download HateHatao App from the Google Playstore and choose how you want to stop prejudice and hatred from being everyday fodder. You can educate yourself on how hate speech works and how you can help by reporting hateful incidents, speech and targets on the app.(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hatehatao.hatehatao)
 

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Today, on the 71st anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, a true messiah of peace, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) are strengthening their resolve to end the culture of hate and bigotry that threatens the socio-cultural fabric of our nation. Hate Hatao, a revolutionary new app designed to fight hate that can be used by anyone with an Android smartphone, has been launched.
 
Hate Hatao is available on Google Play from today. Download now from the link below to help build a stronger, more peaceful and united India.

Download here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hatehatao.hatehatao

In a growing atmosphere of communal hatred, bigotry, and violence, Hate Hatao will enable you to report to us instances of hate speech, threats, and hate crimes, with the appropriate evidence, such as a screenshot, video or a picture. CJP will then take this up as a complaint to authorities such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Press Council of India (PCI), the National Broadcasters Association (NBA), Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms or law enforcement agencies. CJP will also lodge FIRs and pursue the cases in court. You will then receive real-time updates on the status of your report. 
 
Incidents can be related to hate targeted against people from a particular religious community, caste, economic class, ethnicity, gender or sexuality.
 
CJP will also monitor incidents of hate and track their escalation to chart and understand how hate builds. These will be woven into their award-winning Peace Map initiative and will help predict and hopefully prevent possible outbreaks of violence that so often stem from hate. Hate Hatao is part of CJP’s Hate Watch campaign, which spreads awareness and understanding about speech that incites hate and violence against minorities and marginalised groups. The Peace Map is also integral to this campaign. 
 
From inception, Communalism Combat (Sabrang India) and Citizens for Justice and Peace, have been committed to combating hate speech, particularly since it frequently incites violence against marginalised communities. From our on-ground work through dialogue and Mohalla Committees, to winning a NASSCOM Award for our technology-driven Peace Map initiative, innovative solutions have been constantly devised here to pre-empt the outbreak of targeted violence.

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