Mumbai: From right-wing Hindu mobs vandalising mosques and lynching a Muslim engineer in Satara’s Pusesavali village in early September over a social media post, to Ram Navami processions (here, here and here) leaving violence in their wake, India’s richest state has recently experienced an unusual orgy of violence.
Over the last nine months, there have been at least 41 incidents of a communal nature—riots to lynchings to rallies that stoke tensions—that culminated in tensions and violence, according to an analysis of media reportage by Article 14. At least ten were killed and scores injured in these incidents.
Apart from these violent events, Maharashtra also notched up another record—as the state with the highest number of hate speeches nationwide. In the first six months of 2023 there were 74 hate speeches, representing 30% of the 255 reported across India, according to Hindutva Watch, an online database.
In other words, there is one hate speech delivered every 2.5 days in Maharashtra. Karnataka came a distant second, with 26 hate speeches, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 25.
Mumbai, India’s financial capital, registering the highest number of such instances, with 9 of 41 incidents reported statewide. These include a mob attacking a Muslim man at a commuter rail station chanting Jai Shri Ram, and the desecration of Christian graveyards and religious symbols. Kolhapur ranked next, with 6 incidents.
In April 2023, the Supreme Court termed hate speech a “serious offence” and had ordered all states and union territories to take “suo moto action… to register cases” without formal complaints. Yet, the police in Maharashtra have rarely acted against such speeches, which have played a leading role, said experts, in creating a fertile atmosphere for tension and violence.
Political scientist Suhas Palshikar called the police’s inaction as part of a “template borrowed from other states” that has experienced rising communalism.
This story was originally published in article-14.com. Read the full story here .