August 10, 2026

Azam Khan's Conviction For Hate Speech Should Spur Action Against Others

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-10-28 07:22:49

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

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Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, already in jail in another case, has been held guilty for a 'hate' speech in 2019. He was held guilty for making an incendiary speech that could have caused enmity between communities. The court sentenced him to three years of imprisonment in the instant case.

While the court must have had enough proof and reasons to pronounce the verdict and it is no one's case that those who make such speeches be allowed to escape punishment, the action cannot be one-sided or discriminatory.  Many other speeches by several other BJP leaders and religious figures in the recent past have been equally incendiary and were much more likely not only to cause enmity between communities but also start riots.

But in these other recent cases, the administration has shown a strange reluctance to prosecute those who make the speeches and has instead gone after organizers of such events where these speeches were made. It has also not been proactive to prevent the holding of such events, most of which are being held without necessary permissions.

The Supreme Court had recently observed that hate speech had the potential to cause unlimited mischief and had also directed the administration not to wait for complaints in such cases but take suo moto cognizance once the matter is known. The videos of most such speeches are uploaded on social media and go viral. The police have enough material on hand to take action against both who organize such events and those who actually make hate speeches. Hence, the Azam Khan conviction can be taken as a template to punish all others who are guilty of poisoning minds through hate speeches.