From public flogging by policemen to hate speech by an mp the rhetoric of hate is encouraged by impunity

From public flogging by policemen to hate speech by an mp the rhetoric of hate is encouraged by impunity

Hate speech is a political problem, its solution must be found politically. Those whose writ runs in the government or party need to draw the line.

At a “Virat Hindu Sabha” organised by, among others, a unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Delhi, BJP MP Parvesh Verma called for “sampoorna bahishkar” or total boycott of “these people”. He did not name the community to be boycotted. He didn’t need to. Listen in, and the other speakers in the same meeting — held reportedly to protest against the killing of a Hindu man in Sunder Nagri, with six men arrested, all Muslims — leave little to the imagination. In inflammatory speeches, were exhortations to violence and hate. Calls to “take action against jihadis” and disregard the law. “Agar aise log hamare mandiron… ko unglee dikhayein… (if these people point a finger at our temples)”, “… ek bhi madrasa aur ek bhi masjid nahin bachegi (your madrasa and mosque will not be spared)”. The hate speaks for itself. It indicts not just MP Verma, who has invited similar notoriety before. In the campaign for the Delhi assembly elections in January 2020, Verma’s provocative remarks against the anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh had drawn the ire of the EC. The latest instance of unchecked hate speech points fingers, also, at seniors in his party and its government at the Centre. The silence at the top rings out loud. And enables the next public outburst of hate.

Before Verma’s hate speech, was the public flogging a few days ago of 10 Muslim men arrested for alleged stone-pelting at a garba event in Gujarat’s Kheda district, by a policeman in plain clothes. He was helped by his colleagues, a police van standing by, and the crowd cheering. The flagrant abuse of the rule of law by those entrusted with the responsibility of upholding it has brought on a police inquiry — but also praise for the policemen from no less than Gujarat’s minister of state for home. Apparently, in the BJP’s playbook only remarks against the Prophet are deemed beyond the pale, as former party spokesperson Nupur Sharma discovered in May. Outrage in the Muslim world carries a diplomatic cost so MEA mandarins rushed to damage control. But clearly, there is no political cost for viciousness and venom expressed by partymen, legislators and even ministers against the minority community.

And that’s the rub. Last month, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to explain its silence on hate speech and spoke of the need for stricter regulation. That’s a too-innocent reading of the problem. A more expansive law will, in fact, be used to curb free expression. Hate speech is a political problem, its solution must be found politically. Those whose writ runs in the government or party need to draw the line. But given the harvest of hate and the dividends of silence, that won’t happen in a hurry.