Hate Crimes: Their Nature and The Laws Connected with Them

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Hate Crimes: Their Nature and The Laws Connected with Them

This Article is written by Shambhavi shrivastava intern under Legal Vidhiya

Introduction

In present society, India is seeing an upsurge in the number of hate crimes. Hate crimes attack the social order of the society at large. Hate crimes are referred to as criminal offences committed by a bigger group against a specific individual, group, or community, usually on socio-religious grounds in India. Hate crimes are typically committed in order to intimidate or instill fear in a person, group, or community. Hate crimes, in today’s time, is not only limited to mob lynching, discrimination but it has also encompassed within itself hate speeches. The motive behind hate crime is usually hatred against a persons or group’s race, ethnicity, customs, religion etc.

History of hate crimes

Hate crime is not a new phenomenon; it has occurred throughout history. For instance, The Holocaust in Germany is an imminent example of hate crime. Jews who were the religious minority were prosecuted. Anti – Semitism can be regarded as a belief that Jews are racially “inferior” section of the society and Germans were the “superior” and it was the main reason for Holocaust. Holocaust was the planned and state – sponsored murder of more than 6 million Jews on the ground of race by the Nazi regime. These Jews were sent to concentration camps and gas chambers and were tortured till death. Such type of crime reflects the narrow mindedness of society and disturbs the peace and tranquillity of the country.

In India, the persecution of minority Hindu Kashmiri Pandits is one such example. The Muslim majority in Kashmir made Kashmir a living hell for the people who originally belonged to the state. Kashmiri pandits were asked choose to either leave Kashmir or be ready to die. The effect of this was men on the streets with weapons with the intention to kill innocent people just to claim their territorial right and to establish a pure Islamic state. Thousands of Kashmiri pandits were killed during the period. There was mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. Lakhs and lakhs of people fled overnight to save their lives.

Similar was the situation when years old Babri Majid was demolished on the contention that it encroached upon the birthplace of Rama, the Hindu god. Several people lost their lives due the communal violence that prevailed during the period.

Godhra train riots are also the examples of hate crime. If we go back through history, we will discover innumerable examples of hate crimes suppressing a specific section of the population and making their lives miserable. It can be said that Hate crimes are deeply rooted in today’s society.

Nature and Characteristics of hate crime

Unlike other crimes, hate crimes has an innate sense of biasedness or hatred which makes it distinguishable from other types of crime. Only when criminal acts are motivated by bigotry or hatred can they become hate crimes. Hate crimes often target a group that shares specific qualities, such as race, religion, caste, creed, and so on. Hate crimes is a kind of discrimination which further convert itself into criminal acts.

Hate speech as a hate crime

“In common language, “hate speech” refers to offensive discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion or gender) and that may threaten social peace.”

“To provide a unified framework for the United Nations to address the issue globally, the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech defines hate speech as…“any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.”

Hate speech has no aim other than to instill animosity for a specific group or community, which can lead to violence. Hate crimes includes the use of derogatory words for any group to create a sense of hatred. In the case of Pravasi Balai Sangathan vs Union of India, the Honourable Supreme Court gave a broad interpretation of the phrase hate speech. According to the court hate speech is “An effort to marginalize individuals based on their membership in a group which seeks to delegitimize group members in the eyes of the majority, reducing their social standing and acceptance within society.”

Hate speech are incendiary comments that can set the stage for following apocalyptic attacks on larger segments of the marginalized people, whose survival may already be dependent on majoritarian support. These hate speeches can also be politically motivated. One such instance can be traced when Azam Khan made an oblique remark stating that many of the Rashtriya Swayamseavk Sangh’s workers are unmarried because their orientation is homosexual. Reverting back Kamlesh Tiwari, chief of Hindu Mahasabha gave a controversial remark against Prophet Mohammed. Hence, many of such speeches can be regarded as politically motivated. They are also used to undermine the ideology of a certain political party. When people with radical ideas support these parties, they also act as a vote bank for the parties. Therefore, it can be said that Hate speeches are a powerful weapon which can plant the seeds of prejudice for a community or group and which can prove to be a vandalising force against India’s secular nature.

Laws related to hate crime in India

In India, there is no separate law which specifically deals with hate crimes. Several sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) such as section 153, section 295 and so on are taken into consideration when dealt with hate crimes. These are inadequate.

Important sections of Indian Penal Code which deals with hate crime –

“Section 153A of IPC punishes ‘promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’
Section 153B of IPC punishes ‘imputations, assertions prejudicial to national –integration’.
Section 505(1) and (2) of IPC punishes ‘publication or circulation of any statement, rumour or report causing public mischief and enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.’
Section 295A of IPC punishes ‘deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs”.

Provision other than mentioned above which talks about hate speech is –

Representation of People Act (RPA) 1951 – sections which deal with hate speech are 8, 8A, 123, 123(3), 125.

In the case of Babu Rao Patel vs State of Delhi, the Honourable Supreme Court held that section 153A of IPC of “does not function exclusively within the confines of promotion of enmity solely on grounds of religion but inter alia takes into cognisance other motivations such as race, place of birth, caste or community identity, linguistic affiliation”.

In the case of Ramji Lal Modi vs State of UP, Supreme Court observed that “freedom of speech under Article 19(2) of the Constitution “in the interests of public order” would be valid only if the speech was likely to create public disorder, with its connection to the disorder being proximate”. The court also upheld the constitutional validity of section 295A of IPC.

In the case of Sukumar vs State of Tamil Nadu, it was held that freedom of speech and expression does not protect persons from hate speech on social media platforms. The Constitution of India does provide us with Freedom of Speech and expression under Article 19 but it also mentions the reasonable restrictions on it under Article 19(2).

Consequently, there is an urgent need for clarification on what form of law is necessary to prevent such crimes from occurring in the future. Existing loopholes should be corrected as soon as possible. These crimes have the potential to disrupt the social structure and promote sectarian violence in a secular country like India, which has a diverse range of faiths, languages, and ethnicities. These rules will be required in order to preserve the delicate balance and harmonious existence of so many communities and groups.

In the year 2005, the UPA led government tried to legislate on the issue of violence on the grounds of religion. The then Home Minister, Shivraj Patil introduced the Communal violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) bill in Rajya Sabha. This bill provided to tackle the religious violence, speedy trial process and to setup courts for the same. In 2006, the bill was referred to the standing committee. The bill dwindled in the Parliament for approximately nine years between the years 2005 and 2014. Ultimately, the government had to withdraw it. After the withdrawal of the bill the National Bureau of Crime Records, India reported 66,378 cases of riots that led to promotion of ‘enmity between different groups’ in 2014 alone.

The Prevention of Communal Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) bill 2004 could never come to the Parliament. There has been no discussion of such legislation since then.

Additional specific legislations should be created to address the ubiquitous hate crimes in society, rather than these broad provisions including all forms of hate crimes as advocated by the Law Commission of India. Law Commission of India advanced to add Section 153C and 505A to deal specifically with hate crimes. According to these sections – “Uses gravely threatening words, spoken or written or signs or visible representations, with the intention to cause fear or alarm; or Advocates hatred that causes incitement to violence, on grounds of religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe”. At present no steps have been taken to consider these proposals to be enacted.

Conclusion

Since time immemorial it has been the practice of the powerful to exploit the powerless. In India these practices have manifested themselves in many ways – may it be racism, hate speeches or abuse of minorities. Hate divides the society and categorises them into different religions, sects and so on, which should be not the thought process of any Indian given the plurality and diversity of the country. Those who hold strong positions demand obsequence from the people who are in weaker position. The present scenario in India is under a great turmoil, the cases of hate crimes are constantly increasing. If these crimes are not stopped, they can pose a severe threat to the diversity of Indian society, especially if they are accompanied by public prejudice, making coexistence of different faiths and religions an utopian dream. Existing legislation have proven ineffective in preventing such incidents from occurring again in the future. This issue can only be addressed by making stringent laws and their strict implementation. Taking into account all these complications and problems there is a dire need to bring about reforms in the existing laws and making specific legislation for such crimes so that integrity and plurality of India is not taken for a toss. Only by addressing all of these issues successfully will we be able to fully achieve the ideals of equality, fraternity, and integrity.

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