Communist leader in Kerala insults revered Hindu saint Adi Shankaracharya
Kerala, India 
1 January, 2023
Case Summary
On January 2, 2023, Communist leader MB Rajesh made a derogatory remark against the Hindu saint and social reformer, Adi Shankaracharya. He had claimed that Shankaracharya was the “implementer of the cruel caste system based on Manusmriti”. He added that the Hindu saint was not the Acharya of Kerala as he “preserved caste system and varnashrama system”.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added in the tracker under the prime category of 'Hate speech against Hindus' and under this, the sub-category selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. Revered Hindu Saints are often abused deliberately to foster hate for the Hindu community. Branding the Saints of the Hindu community as 'casteist' and by extension, branding the Hindu community itself as 'casteist', has a chilling and dehumanising effect on Hindus. Declaring the saints as casteist, merely due to their priestly status, is aimed at declaring the religious rituals practised or pontificated by the saints as being casteist practices. This is further aimed at outlawing such rituals and symbols. This has been manifested in opposition to janeu, or opposition to festivals like Diwali etc. The same narrative being used against a revered saint of the Hindu community points towards hate speech based on the religious and cultural identity of Hindus who follow and have faith in the saint.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 1
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Sources 
