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Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara, reacting to the BJP's opposition to the Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Prevention Bill, 2025, alleged that the BJP is politicising the issue and asserted that the bill does not intend to target any specific individual.
"We have not brought this Bill targeting anyone in particular. This will apply to whoever indulges in hate speech. It has not been introduced with any specific individual in mind. The law must be respected. The Supreme Court has ordered that hate speech should be curbed. Many incidents have occurred, including murders. All this must be stopped. This bill has not been brought keeping the BJP in mind," said Parameshwara. "The BJP is trying to do politics over this; the bill has been passed in the session. We will send the bill to the Governor. If the Governor seeks clarification on the Bill, we will provide an explanation," added Parameshwara. The Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council passed the Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Prevention Bill, 2025, on December 18 to curb acts that promote enmity, hatred, and disharmony among individuals and communities. The Bill was taken up for discussion in the Assembly in Belagavi, where Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara detailed its provisions and explained the need to clearly define hate speech and hate crimes within a legal framework. Explaining the intent of the legislation, the Home Minister said that hate crimes needed a precise definition to effectively address statements and actions that target specific communities. "It's about someone speaking out against a particular community," he pointed out. Additionally, he also outlined the penalties under the new law, which said, "Whoever commits hate crimes shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year, but which may be extended to seven years, and with a fine of Rs 50,000." He added that for subsequent or repeated offences (two or three times), the punishment would be increased. "For repetitive offences, the punishment will be increased to two years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh (instead of 50,000)," he said. During the discussion, the Home Minister proposed an amendment to the Bill, clarifying that the maximum punishment would be seven years instead of the initially proposed ten years. "Seven years is sufficient. We have to consider this within the legal framework. Therefore, the clause extending punishment to ten years needs to be changed," he said. (ANI)
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