The 2019 General Elections to constitute the 17^th Lok Sabha / lower house of Parliament have reached the final phase. The last of the marathon 7 phase polling took place on 19^th May 2019. Campaigning concluded on 16^th May, ahead of the prescribed 48 hour deadline. This was Election Commission of India (ECI) taking the unprecedented step of ordering a shut down earlier than usual, reportedly to avert violence in polling in West Bengal. Opposition parties are calling foul – and have blamed ECI of not being fair. This action of the ECI is one of the many actions that – throughout the electoral process – opposition parties and civil groups have called out as being biased.

But before we say anything further on that, here some of the hate speeches that we encountered in the last week of campaigning.

This is also our last bulletin of Hate Watch 2019. We plan to follow up with an analytical piece on hate speech in the 2019 Elections, based on material we collated these past 9 weeks. That in a little while.

The conclusion of the election campaign has also brought to the fore the role of the ECI – blamed by the opposition and civil society groups as partisan. These allegations received a shot in the arms when one of the Election Commissioners (there are two Election Commissioners and a Chief Election Commissioner in this 3-person body), Ashok Lhavasa told the press that he had recused himself from ECI decision making process on violations of the Model Code of Conduct because his “minority opinion” was not being recorded. The first instance of dissent within EC appeared on April 25^th over an order related to senior BJP leaders’ campaign speeches in Rajasthan. Mr Lavasa disagreed with the rest of the ECI on the clean chits given to PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. In all the instances concerning Mr Lhavasa’s objections, the Commission chose not to pass an order, pre-empting the need for dissent to be recorded. ECI has been seen as being especially soft on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several instances even when he brazenly violated the Model Code of Conduct. It has been claimed that Modi has been given clean chit in every case while politicians from the opposition have been found guilty of the violation of same degree.

Sources: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/lok-sabha-elections-2019-election-commissioner-ashok-lavasa-opts-out-of-meetings-over-dissent-row-2039327?amp=1&akamai-rum=off

Date: 16-05-2019

Source: https://scroll.in/latest/923672/bjps-bhopal-candidate-pragya-singh-thakur-calls-nathuram-godse-a-patriot

Constituency: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

BJP’s candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur has called Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot. In her reply to actor Kamal Hassan’s comment that Nathuram Godse was the first Hindu terrorist of India, and that is where all the violence began, Thakur, who is also an accused in the Malegaon blast case (Maharshtra, Sept. 2008) in which 6 persons were killed and over 100 injured,  and is on parole for health reasons, called Nathuram Godse, a deshbhakt [patriot]. She was reported claiming “those calling him a terrorist will be given a befitting reply this election.”

Nathuram Godse was a fanatical Hindu activist who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on 30^th January 1948. Hindu right wing groups like the RSS and Bajrang Dal revere Godse as a revolutionary leader for his act of killing Gandhi, who they consider arch-enemy for what they see as Gandhi’s pro-Muslim leanings.  Many BJP leaders, including past cabinet members, have come out in support of Pragya’s remarks.

Date: 06-05-2019

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019/uttar-pradesh/news/vote-for-sp-bsp-is-a-vote-for-pakistan-varun-gandhi/articleshow/69192853.cms?fbclid=IwAR0YCRlR_f7WVyqvfqhw37PlJhy0buf8jThUf0lauUt2EXUU6bdU4sAWquo

Constituency: Sultanpur

BJP leader Varun Gandhi, during an election rally in Pilibhit constituency, claimed that a vote for SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh would be a vote for Pakistan. Varun said “Are you with Bharat Mata or Pakistan? Your vote for the alliance will mean voting for Pakistan.” Varun Gandhi has been a controversial figure in past, often resorting to divisive campaigning, including hateful speeches directed at minorities. 

Date: 06-05-2019

Source: https://indianexpress.com/elections/electricity-was-provided-on-eid-but-not-on-diwali-in-up-earlier-yogi-adityanath-5713810/ 

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath blamed the opposition for discriminating against the majority. He accused the previous governments of the state for providing electricity only during Muslim festivals. At a rally in Dumariyaganj Lok Sabha constituency yogi said “Earlier, only four-five districts used to get electricity and the other 70-71 faced crisis. During Eid, electricity was provided and during Diwali, it was not. During Muharram, electricity would be there but it disappeared at the time of Holi.”

This was obviously an attempt at fomenting divisiveness in electoral campaigning, something for which Yogi Adityanath has been pulled up by the Election Commission recently.  

Date: 04-05-2019

Source: https://indianexpress.com/elections/assam-bjp-mla-muslims-are-like-cows-that-dont-give-milk-5709784/

Constituency: 116-Dibrugarh L.A.C.

Prasanta Phukan a BJP MLA from Assam stoked a controversy when he referred to the minority community as ‘cows’. While talking about the voting patterns of Muslims in Lok Sabha elections Phukan said that Muslims are like “cows that don’t yield milk”.

Earlier in an interview to a local TV channel Phukan had also said “Ninety per cent Hindus voted for the BJP, and 90 per cent people from the Muslim community did not vote for us. If a cow is not giving milk, what is the point of feeding it fodder?

Date: 28-04-2019

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/elections/article/ex-congress-mla-stands-by-atishi-is-a-jew-remark-tells-muslims-to-beware-of-aap-leaders-jewish-roots/410147 ; https://www.abplive.in/videos/ex-congress-mla-calls-aap-leader-atishi-jew-975967

In a case of anti-Semitism, former Congress MLA Asif Mohammed Khan has called Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi Marlena a Jew in disguise. The former MLA blamed AAP for falsely portraying Atishi as a Punjabi-Hindu. Khan said that Atishi is a “Yahudi” and Muslims can vote for anyone except for a Jew. Khan also said the Muslims cannot accept leadership of the Jews and asked his supporters to spread this to every household so that Atishi can be defeated. 

When asked for clarification, Khan stood firm on his remarks and said “Yes, I stand by my comment, 100 per cent. Arvind Kejriwal is brazenly indulging in caste and politics of religion. He forced Atishi to remove MarLena from her name. Jews have no place in Indian culture. I believe in Islam. I am a follower of Islam and a Jew can’t lead Muslims. And I am ready to face any punishment for my remark”. Atishi Marlena has since clarified that, ‘I and my party do not believe in religious politics, but I had to come out to clarify that I belong to a Punjabi-Hindu family.”

Date: 07-03-2019

Source: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/ec-issues-notice-telangana-cm-kcr-derogatory-remarks-hindus-99807

Constituency: Mahbubnagar

Election Commission has issued a notice to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President and state Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for violating the Model Code of Conduct. Rao made derogatory remarks against the majority community at an election rally in Karimnagar on March 17. He condemned BJP’s claim of monopoly over Hinduism. He said “These (self-proclaimed) Hindus are useless and disgusting…They want to stoke fire in the country and belong in the gutter.”

In the same speech, KCR had also said, “”BJP leaders say they are the only Hindus. Then what is their problem if Hindus (like me) perform puja and yagnas? Are you the only ones who can safeguard our culture? Were there no temples before the BJP came?”

The Notice stated, “The Commission is prima facie of the opinion that by making the aforesaid statement which has the potential of disturbing harmony and aggravating the existing differences between social and religious communities and appealing to communal feelings, you have violated the Model Code of Conduct”.

1. A complaint has been registered against BJP leader Giriraj Singh on Thursday at Begusarai police station for violating the Model Code of Conduct. The FIR was lodged under sections 125 of the Representation of People Act and sections 153 A, 295 A, 171 C, 188, 298, 505 of the Indian Penal Code.

Date: 25-04-2019

Source: https://www.firstpost.com/politics/begusarai-phase-4-of-lok-sabha-election-to-witness-battle-of-ideologies-between-bjps-giriraj-singh-and-cpis-kanhaiya-kumar-6515231.html ; https://www.firstpost.com/politics/begusarai-police-file-case-against-giriraj-singh-for-violating-poll-code-bjp-candidate-had-hurt-muslim-sentiments-with-green-flags-remark-6520521.html

Constituency: Begusarai, Bihar

BJP leader Giriraj Singh has demanded the Election Commission should ban all sorts of green flags in his constituency because that reminds him of Pakistan and gives him a whiff of Muslim organisations. Green flags are usually associated with Islam and right wing forces in India often connect it with Pakistan. Singh said “This (green flags) spreads hatred and creates the perception of being used in Pakistan.” About a third of the Bharatiya Janata Party flag is also green.

A case has been registered against Singh for his statement at Begusarai police station for violating the Model code of conduct.