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It was a year when hate speech hit new lows, challenging the trust of Muslims in the country’s fraternity.

Police are deployed outside Mumbai’s NG Acharya and DK Marathe College on August 3, a day after the junior college denied entry to students wearing burqas and hijabs over their uniforms. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

For the last decade, we have seen visible manifestations of communalism from political players—orchestrated riots, hate speeches, dog-whistling by leaders (remember when the Prime Minister asked us to identify protesters by the clothes they wear?)

But 2023 challenged this notion—hate no longer had to be delivered to us. We did not need speeches, nor did we need tactful, sublime nods. This is the year hate was crowdsourced—from ordinary, non-political citizens who had turned into lone wolves, in the service of communal disharmony, dedicated to establishing a Hindu-first nation.

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