Hate speech against minorities in India soared by 75% in 2024

There has been a sharp rise in hate speech incidents targeting religious minorities in India, according to a new report by an American think tank.

The country recorded 1,165 hate speech events last year, a 74.4 per cent increase from 2023, the report by India Hate Lab said. As many as 98.5 per cent of these events targeted Muslims, either explicitly or in combination with Christians, while almost 10 per cent targeted Christians in some capacity.

The report by India Hate Lab, a project of the Washington, DC-based Center for the Study of Organized Hate, noted a “deeply concerning trend of escalating hate speech” especially in states governed by Narendra Modi’s BJP party and its allies.

The United Nations defines hate speech as “any kind of communication, in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or 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”.

The report found that at least 931 of the recorded hate speech events, just under 80 per cent, occurred in states or federal territories governed by the BJP. This suggests “a strong correlation between political control and the prevalence of hate speech”, it said.

The Independent reached out to the BJP for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

States ruled by opposition parties in contrast accounted for 234, or about 20 per cent, of the documented hate speech incidents.

The states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh led the nation in hate speech incidents, collectively contributing to nearly half of the total events.

The report noted that hate speech incidents spiked during last year’s general elections, making up 32 per cent of the total events recorded in 2024.

“The persistence of hate speech targeting minorities – and its sharp escalation in the lead-up to the 2024 elections – suggests a deeply troubling trajectory,” the report stated. “Hate speech is no longer just an instrument of communal polarisation but is becoming increasingly normalised as a standard feature of Indian political culture and electoral campaigns.”

As many as 259, or over 22 per cent, of the recorded events featured dangerous speech, including explicit calls for violence. No less than 224 of these events occurred in states governed by the BJP or its allies or in union territories under the jurisdiction of the BJP’s central government, the report said. This is an 8.4 per cent increase in dangerous speech incidents compared to 2023.

According to the Dangerous Speech Project, a nonprofit research team, dangerous speech is defined as communication that “can increase the risk that its audience will condone or participate in violence against members of another group”.

Social media platforms played a major role in amplifying hate speech, the report said, with 995 of the recorded events first shared or live-streamed on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X.

The platforms did not remove such videos inciting violence even though they were in breach of their community standards, it said.

“Our report clearly demonstrates that anti-minority hate speech is not incidental but follows a deliberate pattern. It is no longer just an instrument of communal polarisation but, shockingly, a standard feature of Indian political culture and electoral campaigns, institutional structures, and social fabric,” Raqib Hameed Naik, executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, told The Independent.

“Modi government’s politicisation of religious identity has reshaped public discourse on Muslim identity to such an extent that even leaders from opposition parties have largely refrained from categorically condemning hate speech against Muslims. The lack of public outrage over hate speech suggests the disturbing social acceptance and normalisation of the sentiments expressed in such rhetoric. The complicity of Big Tech in enabling hate speech is also very evident from its utter unwillingness to stop the weaponisation of its platforms.”

The Independent has contacted Meta, X, and Google (which owns YouTube) for comment.

The report further noted that while hate speech incidents nationwide rose by 74.4 per cent from 2023 to 2024, Karnataka saw a 20 per cent decline, with 32 events recorded in 2024 compared to 40 the previous year. Six of the incidents occurred during the 2024 election campaign.

The southern state was governed by the BJP until May 2023, when the Congress party took power. “The new administration implemented measures that contributed to a decline in hate speech incidents,” the report said.

India has also witnessed a rise in hate speech targeting places of worship, the report said, with 274 incidents calling for the destruction of Muslim or Christian places of worship. Hate speech against vulnerable communities like the Rohingya and people of Bangladeshi origin has gone up as well.

The report argued that “the degradation of political life through the mainstreaming of hate speech signals a new low in India’s political culture, one with grave implications for the security, psychological wellbeing, and fundamental sense of belonging of religious minorities in the Indian republic”.

Teacher admits to stabbing 8-year-old girl to death in South Korea

An elementary school teacher has admitted to fatally stabbing an eight-year-old girl in the central city of Daejeon in South Korea.

The teacher, who is in her 40s, is currently in hospital for self-inflicted wounds on her neck and arms and has not been arrested as investigations continue, according to local media reports.

The eight-year-old had been at her elementary school in Daejeon, 160km south of Seoul, for after-class childcare before she was supposed to attend a private art class.

An official from the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education said during a media briefing on Tuesday that the girl was found by her grandmother at around 6.00pm local time on Monday after the parents reported her missing from the art class.

The motive of the attack remains unclear, and police have not found a personal connection between the teacher and the victim.

A local fire department official told Reuters that the teacher had sustained stab wounds to her neck and face. The teacher underwent surgery for her injuries, and police plan to resume questioning her once she recovers, according to the Yonhap news agency.

During a cabinet meeting, acting president Choi Sang Mok expressed condolences over the child’s death and instructed the education ministry and authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.

While South Korea generally has a low murder rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people – below the global average of six per 100,000 – the country saw several high-profile violent crimes in 2023, including multiple stabbings.

Among the violent incidents last year were a subway station stabbing that left one dead and three wounded, an attack on a high school teacher in Daejeon, and a knife-wielding assailant driving into pedestrians before attacking shoppers in Bundang.

Last year, South Korea’s liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck during a public event in Busan.

China complains about Arunachal Pradesh map in Bangladesh textbook

China has raised objections over Bangladeshi textbooks depicting Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as part of India in a map of Asia.

Chinese diplomats claimed Bangladesh “incorrectly depicted the two territories” as part of India‘s territory in grade four textbooks and on the website of the Department of Survey, calling it a “factual discrepancy”.

Beijing sent a letter to Bangladesh in November last year, requesting corrections to the maps and information presented in the textbooks and on the survey department’s website, Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo reported.

In the letter, China said the Bangladesh and Global Studies textbook contains a map of the Asian region in which the territorial boundaries between China and India have been “inaccurately marked”, particularly with regard to Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.

India and China share a 3,488km border that runs from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. China holds a large piece of territory called the Aksai Chin in Ladakh that it won during the 1962 war with India and claims India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of its province of Tibet.

Relations between the hostile neighbours hit a new low in July 2020 after at least 20 Indian armymen and four Chinese soldiers were killed in a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. It was the first time in 45 years that a clash on the border had led to fatalities.

Last year, New Delhi said it had reached an agreement with Beijing on military patrols along their disputed Himalayan border, marking a significant step towards resolving the standoff.

China also disputed the mention of Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate countries with trade relations with Dhaka in the Bangladesh and Global Studies textbook for students of grades nine and 10.

Beijing maintains that self-governed Taiwan is a breakaway province and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.

China has asked Dhaka to abide by the “One China” policy and emphasised mutual respect for each other’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”.

The letter was followed by a discussion between diplomats of the two nations.

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Education and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board said the process of printing new textbooks had already been completed, which left them no room for corrections.

This pushed Dhaka to request Beijing to not exert pressure on the issue and reportedly assured it that the matter would be addressed in a coordinated manner later.

“We are maintaining status quo, not making any changes at this moment,” a Bangladesh government official told The Daily Star on Sunday.

US woman who went viral over Pakistan marriage trip leaves country

An American woman who became a social media sensation after flying to Pakistan to marry a teenager has finally left the country, reports say.

Onijah Andrew Robinson, 33, traveled to Karachi in October last year to meet and marry Nidal Ahmed Memon – a 19-year-old Pakistani man.

The New Yorker was ultimately rejected by the teenager, after his family is said to have objected to their relationship. Ms Robinson’s 30 day visa reportedly expired in November but she refused to leave the country, with her plight going viral thanks to clips widely shared on Instagram and TikTok.

Now, some four months later, local media says she has finally left Pakistan. Pakistani outlet Geo News stated that Ms Robinson boarded a flight from Karachi on Friday, with footage showing local police seeing her off at the airport.

The News International – one of the country’s largest English language newspapers – said that a medical board had declared her fit to travel having discharged her from a stay in hospital. She was persuaded to return home by US consulate staff in Karachi, who also arranged her ticket, the newspaper added.

But to further muddy the waters in the strange saga, videos were posted to social media on Monday claiming to be of Ms Robinson in Dubai. Her flight home to the US on Friday was via Dubai, News International said, but in one Instagram clip she is seen posing for selfies with a large group of smiling men surrounding her on an outside street.

A caption on the clip says Ms Robinson had “attracted a new fanbase in Dubai”.

During her extended stay in Pakistan, she held a bizarre press conference in which she asked the government for “100k or more”, claiming it was to improve vital services in the country such as infrastructure and local transport.

In another, she asked for “two thousand or more every week”, “more than five thousand dollars in USD”, “I want 20K up front, 5K-10K to stay here every week, and I want those demands from the government right away”, according to the spate of videos that were circulated on TikTok.

The Independent has contacted the US consulate in Karachi for comment.

Chinese couple kicked off plane in Kuala Lumpur for causing commotion

Two Chinese nationals were removed from a plane at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after causing a disturbance before takeoff, police said.

The woman passenger allegedly acted erratically, prompting security officers to escort her and her partner off the flight to Jieyang, China.

“She and her partner were then taken out of the plane by security officers,” KLIA police chief Azman Shariat said in a statement. The couple later reportedly refused to cooperate with police and displayed aggressive behaviour.

Health officials administered sedatives and admitted them to Hospital Sultan Idris Shah for evaluation due to suspected mental health issues, police said.

“The police then requested assistance from the Health Ministry officers and after a check, both were administered sedatives,” Mr Shariat said.

“Both were brought to Hospital Sultan Idris Shah in Serdang to undergo a full examination because both were suspected of mental health issues. They were then detained at the ward,” he said, according to Malaysian outlet The Star.

No arrests were made, and both tested negative for drugs.

The details of the flight on which the couple was supposed to fly to Jieyang in China remain unclear.

Meanwhile, another Malaysian outlet The Rakyat Post reported that a Chinese couple has gone missing while travelling in Malaysia, sparking concern among their family.

They were reportedly scheduled to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Jieyang on 9 February before heading to Nanjing but never arrived. Their phones are switched off, and flight records show they never boarded their flight.

It, however, remains unclear if these are the same Chinese nationals who were removed from one flight Jieyang on 9 February. The outlet said that their last known location was TRX Residence in Kuala Lumpur on 8 February.

The family posted a missing persons notice on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu and is seeking help, including from the Chinese embassy in Malaysia, reports said.

Bleeding man arrested for knife attack on Kyoto train station staff

An injured man reportedly attacked a staff member at a train station in Kansai region in western Japan on Tuesday.

The unidentified Japanese man, with a bleeding forehead, reportedly pulled out a knife and attacked a staff member at a train station in Seika in Kyoto prefecture around 6.30am on 11 February.

Station staff and bystanders reportedly subdued the man and alerted the police.

Local police arrested the man on suspicion of violating the Firearms and Swords Control Law. There were no injuries reported.

According to West Japan Railway, the incident led to cancellations and delays on the Gakkentoshi Line, impacting approximately 150 passengers.

Last month, a knife attack outside Nagano Station in central Japan left one person dead and two injured. A 49-year-old man died, while a 37-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman sustained injuries.

The stabbing occurred near a bus terminal outside Nagano station, according to the Kyodo News. The incident, suspected to be a random attack with no one targeted in particular, occurred near JR Nagano Station.

The suspect used a blade-like object to attack three people waiting for a bus near the station, police said. One of them, Hiroyuki Maruyama, a 49-year-old man, was pronounced dead in a hospital. Maruyama was stabbed in the left side of the abdomen and went into cardiac arrest.

Violent crime is rare in Japan due to its strict gun control laws. However, recent years have seen several high-profile incidents of random knife attacks and arson on subways.

In 2021, a 24-year-old man dressed as the Joker attacked passengers on a Tokyo train on Halloween night, injuring 17 people. He stabbed a man in his 60s, who was left in critical condition, and set a fire inside the train.

The suspect, who was later seen calmly smoking on the train, was arrested at the scene. He reportedly told authorities he wanted to kill people to receive the death penalty.

Fresh violence plunges Manipur into political crisis as leader resigns

A fresh wave of violence in Manipur compelled the northeast Indian state’s chief minister to resign over the weekend as the almost two-year-old ethnic conflict raged on unabated.

N Biren Singh, senior member of prime minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party, announced that he had submitted his resignation to the governor on Sunday.

The resignation came just a day before the state legislative assembly was scheduled to go in session.

The state was now expected to be placed under the president’s rule, meaning that it would effectively be ruled directly by Mr Modi’s government.

In his resignation letter, Mr Singh thanked Mr Modi’s federal government for what he described as its efforts to safeguard Manipur’s interests and urged continued action to curb border infiltration and deport “illegal immigrants”.

The ethnic conflict in Manipur involving the majority Meitei community and the minority Kukis began in 2023 after the state’s High Court ordered the government to accept the Meitei demand for Scheduled Tribe status, which, if granted, would have extended economic benefits and job and education quotas meant for marginalised groups like the Kukis to the majority community.

The conflict has left more than 250 people dead so far.

Kuki groups accused Mr Singh, 64, of siding with his Meitei community and demanded his removal after the conflict started. His own allies grew increasingly critical as the conflict continued and several BJP lawmakers sought his resignation over his handling of the crisis.

International human rights organisations accused the state administration as well as Mr Modi’s government of allowing vigilante groups in the state to operate with impunity, stoking ethnic tensions, and failing to uphold law and order.

The BJP governments in New Delhi and Imphal “have utterly failed to end the violence and displacement and protect human rights in the state”, Amnesty International said last year.