How hate speech hollows Indian democracy

The nefarious project of drenching a large section of the society into the crucible of majoritarian communalism by the Hindutva forces is corroding India's pluralistic and social fabric.

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THE vitiation of public discourse by injecting a continuous and visceral dose of hate speech by Hindu Right has reached an alarming everydayness in India. It is not just the hate-mongers who revel in spewing anti-Muslim hatred, even ministers and members of the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (B.J.P.) actively participate in it. Some, who cannot, owing to constraints of their constitutional post, resort to subtle dog-whistle.   

This may make many wonder whether we will soon have a constitution sans constitutionalism.

This observation, at first blush, may sound to be dreary to some, and misplaced to others. However, if one were to survey the incidents of the last few years, where violence and cruelty were preceded by hate speech, the egregious transformation of India's political ethos won't be much difficult to identify.  Recently, Muslim traders were not allowed to set up their stalls during temple festival by relying on some obscure law. The physical violence, discrimination, and dehumanization against Muslims has now become endemic, and is gradually getting normalized.  

Meanwhile, the shadow of impunity under which the 'smugglers of hate' operates, and purveys raw hate sans any fear of backlash either from the state or society, has both emboldened the hate-mongers and exacerbated the menace of divisive politics in India. Ideally, one would have expected that the democratic institutions- both created by the constitution and State – would contain, if not stop, the onslaught of this rabid majoritarianism. However, these institutions have utterly failed either by their omission or commission.  

Although there are many target groups at which these hate speeches are directed, in that order, Muslims are at the top and even an all-time favorite of the Hindutva forces. A recent report released by the Delhi-based socio-cultural organization, Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), in the form of a book entitled Hate Grips the Nation, details cases of rising hate speech and hate crime in India. The reports show, with empirical data, the upward spiraling of hate crimes against the minorities, especially Muslims (73.3%) and Christian (26.7%) communities in India.