In the first half of 2023 alone, at least 255 incidents of hate speech gatherings targeting Muslims were recorded in India, says a recent report published by Hindutva Watch, a Washington-based research group. While some 205 (80 per cent) events were documented in BJP-ruled states and Union Territories, one of the major planks of these hate speech events seems to have been conspiracy theories like “love jihad,” “vyapar jihad”, and “land jihad”, the report says.