The year 2024 saw the intensification of hate-driven political narratives, targeting religious minorities and undermining social cohesion
AN IMPARTIAL REVIEW of the year 2024 makes it clear that hate has become an essential component of the ruling party’s campaign to vilify and malign religious minorities in the country. It also highlights that they are unapologetic about constructing a false, hateful narrative for selfish gains and spreading a parochial mindset.
Like previous years, 2024 was no different for the country’s minorities, particularly religious minorities such as Christians and Muslims. As 2024 was an election year, it was erroneously hoped by the saner elements in the country that this year, the targeted victims of alleged state-sponsored violence against minorities might get a respite. However, they were proven wrong.
In the months leading up to the general elections, a completely vicious and one-sided campaign against religious minorities was orchestrated by right-wing elements with tacit support from the local bureaucracy and police.
In 2024, five states in particular—Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh—were virtually turned into state-run laboratories for harassing religious minorities. It seemed as if the script to target the religious minorities had been written by the top honchos, with the task of execution handed over to lesser-known right-wing outfits.
A cacophonous storm was stirred in Himachal Pradesh’s capital, Shimla, against a local masjid, claiming it was an encroachment and had been built illegally. However, the masjid committee had all the relevant documents to prove ownership and the necessary permissions from the concerned authorities to add additional floors to the masjid.
But when state power is usurped by goons, who cares about evidence or sane advice? This concerted action against Muslims in the state led to their further ostracisation, with Muslims being asked to leave different localities in several towns and cities.
In a similar vein, a doctor couple in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, was urged by right-wing elements to cancel the sale of their house to a Muslim couple, as locals claimed that such a sale would vitiate the atmosphere of the colony. A parallel effect of this thinking has been observed across several metros in India, where small and large builders have started constructing gated communities for a particular religious community, complete with a mandir, where buyers from other religious communities are not entertained.
The same script played out again in New Delhi, when several old masjids and graveyards were served notices alleging illegal encroachment. Despite clear judicial orders, bulldozer justice was carried out by local authorities, and those who shed crocodile tears over issues close to their hearts were silent and unwilling to condemn or stop the local administration’s actions, even when such activities were taking place in the national capital. In such cases, their lips, eyes, and ears seemed closed, as if they were in a trance, engaged in some form of meditative exercise. Since they claimed to be non-biological, they could indeed adopt a non-worldly attitude.
As if the replay of old scripts was not enough, the central government introduced a constitutional amendment bill to manage the Waqf properties of the Muslim community. These properties were donated by Muslims for the welfare of the community, and over the years, no government had interfered in their day-to-day management. However, to counter the anti-bill narrative, a false story was constructed using WhatsApp and other social media platforms to spread misinformation about the Muslim community and Waqf properties.
Another face of right-wing politics taking root in the political landscape of the country was evident when different political parties announced their candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. While the BJP’s reluctance to field Muslim candidates is well known, even the so-called secular parties were unwilling to offer tickets to Muslim candidates in proportion to their population numbers.
The result was glaring when the 18th Lok Sabha was constituted with the lowest share of Muslim MPs in the last six decades. Less than 5% of its members are Muslims, despite Muslims forming over 15% of the country’s population. Currently, there are just 24 Muslim MPs (4.4%) in the Lok Sabha. The party with the most elected members in 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has no representatives from the Muslim community. In fact, the decline in the share of Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha since the 1990s coincided with the rise of the BJP, whose MP tally crossed the 100-mark for the first time in the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96).
Moreover, during the election campaign, the country’s Prime Minister, instead of discussing the success of his so-called development programmes—reflected in his jumlas and the social and economic boost his government claims to have provided—chose to speak about completely fabricated charges against the country’s Muslim community and the opposition. He alleged that if the Congress party came to power, it would distribute the country’s wealth among Muslims.
He further warned that the Congress would take away Hindu women’s possessions, such as bridal necklaces or mangalsutras, and give them to their “vote bank” (i.e., Muslims). He also claimed that the opposition was planning to take away job reservations from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and give them to Muslims, and that the opposition alliance was asking Muslims to do ‘vote jihad’.
It was wishfully or rather erroneously expected that after the BJP’s return to power, the hate speeches and campaigns against religious minorities would subside. But once again, these hopes were dashed. In just two months—August and September 2024—there were 135 violent attacks on religious minorities and nearly 68 hate speeches delivered against them.
In the second half of the year, right-wing elements found another ploy to harass the Muslim community. They initiated a campaign alleging that hundreds of mosques across the country, including those in Varanasi, Mathura, and even Delhi’s Jama Masjid, were built on demolished temples. They urged the courts to order excavations of these mosques. The worst result of this canard was evident in Sambha, Uttar Pradesh, where police action against local Muslims demonstrating against the excavation of the local Jama Masjid resulted in the deaths of four Muslim youth.
An end to this insane campaign was laid when the Supreme Court, in its order of 12 December, directed courts across the country not to entertain or pass orders in any new suits or pleas seeking surveys of mosques to determine whether temples existed beneath them.
The court further restrained lower courts from passing any orders in existing suits concerning such disputes, effectively freezing surveys pending further directions.
However, it remains to be seen how long this restraint may last, as the Supreme Court itself had urged relevant authorities in April 2023 and October 2022 to take suo motu action against those who indulge in hate speeches and file FIRs against the culprits.
Yet, despite these orders, hate speeches continued to dominate the election campaign, and at a conservative estimate, around 200 hate speeches were delivered by right-wing leaders in 2024 alone.
It was not as if this treatment was reserved only for Muslims. According to a report by the United Christian Forum, 745 cases of hate and violence were committed against the country’s Christian community by right-wing Hindu activists across India.
At the end of the year, on the occasion of Christmas, the old story repeated itself again, with several incidents of Santa Claus being targeted by right-wing elements reported from various states across the country.
Overall, it seems that hate has become entrenched in the Indian political ecosystem, and unless a cohesive action plan is implemented by the country’s government and efforts are augmented to rein in right-wing elements, nothing better can be expected in 2025. Hate seems to have become the fait accompli of the country’s religious minorities, furthering a polarising and divisive political agenda. 
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The author is a political commentator based in New Delhi. He was also associated with BBC Urdu Service and Khaleej Times of Dubai. He writes on Muslims, educational, international affairs, interfaith and current affairs.
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