Under Modi, while reporting in New Delhi, I remember texting friends frantically asking them if they could text me enough of the Hanuman Chalisa that I could memorise on a bike because people with guns and knives were using it to check if you were Hindu.

https://twitter.com/ndtv/status/1782711045821247955

Every time we report hate, some liberal will pop up to ask, "Why are you amplifying hatred? This is a distraction against the real inadequacies of this govt - the economy, unemployment, petrol - focus on that!"

I want to break down why this is well meaning but faulty thinking. When we talk about propaganda, what comes before hate is fear. In every hate speech, you'll see the pattern: first they will tell you you're in danger from Muslims, and then they will tell you that you must protect yourself from attack.

This is not by accident.

I'm pleased to tell you all that the product of 5 months of monitoring hate is here - @thewire_in's Heartland Hatewatch is live today.

Here's what happened in the last 5 months.
@alishan_jafri
m.thewire.in/article/commun… This is the website we've developed to keep you updated.

We chose to make it interactive in terms of who the perpetrators (alleged) for these crimes and these hate speeches are.

Know the faces.

tools.thewire.in/hatewatch/spee…