Sami Ahmad
PATNA–The Bihar chapter of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has urged to launch a mass awareness against hate speech. It said that there was a need to seriously talk and discuss the hatred and rising trends of hate speeches It added that the civil society of India will have to speak out loudly against this and take a firm stand.
In a seminar organised at Gandhi Museum, Patna on Sunday the PUCL emphasized the need for concerted efforts against hate speech to save society. The seminar was attended by the district officials of PUCL, academicians, law students and human rights activists.
In his opening remarks, Pushpendra, an executive committee member, said that there was a need to mobilise the mass to realize the dangers of hate speech and make them ready to stand up and say that we cannot tolerate hate speech.
He said, “We must make the people realize that hate speech harms us directly. The community for which such hate speeches are delivered too get harmed. We need to tell the people that hate speeches harm the social fabric for a longer time. There is a need for mass awareness for this purpose.”
Pushpendra said, “We need to know the legal and administrative remedies to counter hate speech. We need to know the related laws and sections to fight against hate speech and also the process of registering a complaint in this regard.”
He underlined that gate speech converts into hate crime or prepares the ground for that. He informed that PUCL has formed a group to track hate speech and hate crimes. For this purpose, PUCL is training its members to identify hate speech. It is also training them on how to counter hate speech, and how it starts and works. He said that PUCL was trying to develop a mechanism to identify hate speech and check it.
Pushpendra pointed out that the common festivals were used for hate speeches and hate violence. He referred to Bihar where hate violence was reported from ten districts on the occasion of Ram Navami. He recalled how a Madrasa was set on fire on that occasion after the mob turned violent which was an outcome of hate speech. He also referred to the mob lynching of a Muslim truck carrying animal bones.
On this occasion, the Principal of Patna Law College, Professor Mohammad Sharif said that the cases of hate speech against politicians are lying unheard in the courts. He asked why the courts take time and don’t deliver justice on time?
Professor Sharif said that most of the hate speeches are spread particularly about religion. He emphasized making an agenda to counter hate speeches.
He mentioned the case of Delhi where a policeman had hit those who were offering Namaz. He questioned if that policeman knew the religious norms of society. He said that incident was also a result of hate speeches being delivered day in and day out.
On this occasion, Sarfaraz, the general secretary of PUCL Bihar presented a paper on hate speech and discussed it in detail.
This paper stated that if hate speeches were not stopped then there was a strong possibility of massacre taking place at various places in India.
It said, “It is being seen that language filled with hatred is becoming prevalent in political meetings and elsewhere. This is not only a legal crime but also a social evil.”
This paper says, “It is also worth highlighting the fact that hate speech is not about an individual, but about an individual as a member of a disadvantaged group – their group identity matters.”
Discussing the role of media, the paper says, “Across the world, discrimination and hate speeches in the media have been found to not only hurt the sentiments of the individuals or communities they target but can also contribute to crimes committed against them and even incite armed conflicts or justify, as well as encourage violence against women, children, refugees, minorities or any particular social class.”
The paper says that hate speeches harm Indian society or any multicultural society in many ways. It says that hate speech is an attack on the Constitution as it directly limits and affects the fundamental rights – equality and freedom – provided by the Indian Constitution. The paper says that hate speech weakens brotherhood and unity – creates distrust and hatred between different communities, which sometimes persists for a long time.
According to this paper, hate speeches dehumanise communities as efforts are made to reduce the importance of the lives of communities or groups that are tried to be established as enemies.
The paper says that in most of the cases of hate speeches, it has been found that people spreading hatred were associated with addressing a group in such a way that it harmed the dignity of that class, such as the Chief Minister of Assam using the word Miyan.
The paper termed hate speech as an ingredient for genocide as it had the ultimate goal of genocide. The paper says, “All individuals and organizations – including the media, the Internet, leaders, teachers, youth and civil society – have a moral duty to speak out strongly against hate speech and play a vital role in combating this scourge.”
It emphasized the importance of documenting hate speech and the crimes related to it or caused by it. The paper says by documenting hate speeches we can identify those institutions and individuals who have contributed the most to this crime.
