The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has told the Supreme Court that there was a 74 per cent rise in hate crimes in India in 2024, of which 98 per cent were against Muslims.
The Jamiat also assailed hate speeches allegedly delivered by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Quoting a survey conducted by India Hate Lab Report, the Jamiat told the top court that hate speech incidents against Muslim and Christian minorities rose from 668 in 2023 to 1,165 in 2024 — a 74 per cent increase.
"Nearly 98% of these incidents targeted Muslims, either alone or alongside Christians. The report records that on average, three hate speech events occurred per day, with 22.2% events making explicit calls for violence and 23.5% calling for seizure, removal or destruction of places of worship owned by Muslims or Christians," the Jamiat said.
"The report highlights that a huge number of 995 out of the total 1,165 hate speech events in 2024 were shared and live-streamed publicly on social media platforms," senior advocate M.R. Shamshad, representing Jamiat, said in his submission to the court.
The submissions were in the context of the Supreme Court examining fresh guidelines to curb incidents of hate crimes. Several individuals and organisations had earlier moved the top court complaining about police's failure to enforce laws dealing with hate crimes despite earlier directions by the Supreme Court.
"To be more specific, apart from denigrating the religious tenets of communities, dominant public voices are frequently found branding a section of citizens, predominantly Muslims, as jallads, ghuspaithiyas, anti-nationals, jihadis, mullahs, ghaddar, atankis, sleeper cells, stone-pelters, mian, katua, and similar expressions.
"Apart from innumerable similar speeches in the past from personalities holding constitutional positions, even after the conclusion of the hearing in the present batch of matters, on 27.01.2026 the chief minister of Assam while addressing a public gathering made statements that 4 to 5 lakh Miyan voters would be removed from SIR by stating that he (Himanta) and the BJP are directly against Miyas. Miya is indicated to address Muslims in derogatory terms. This is not the first instance or the last coming from the persons holding such positions," the petition stated.