Video: The epidemic of hate speech in India

In the late 1980s, the Hindutva preacher Sithambara gained notoriety for her inflammatory speeches targetting India’s Muslim community. After the Liberhan Commission investigating the Babri Masjid demolition held Sithambara 68 others of being culpable for leading the country “to the brink of communal discord”, a Central Bureau of Investigation court framed criminal charges against her.

She was acquitted in 2020. Tis year, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government gave her the Padma Bhushan award for social work.

How did hate speech come to be so normalised in India? And what effect does it have on our society?

Those are among the topics that peace activist and author Harsh Mander discusses with journalist Hartosh Singh Bal and author Shahrukh Alam in this episode of the discussion series on the state of the republic.

The name of Karwan e Mohabbat’s Yeh Daag Daag Ujala series is a tribute to the iconic poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

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