Hate speech in India targeting the country's religious minorities saw a "staggering" surge in 2024, a US-based think tank has said.

The number of hate speech incidents targeting religious minorities surged from 668 in 2023 to 1,165 in 2024, marking a staggering 74.4 percent increase.

The alarming rise was "deeply intertwined with the ideological ambitions of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the broader Hindu nationalist movement", the India Hate Lab (IHL) said in a report.

During India's bitterly contested national vote last year, critics and civil rights groups accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP of ramping up rhetoric against Muslims to unprecedented levels during his campaign in a bid to mobilise the Hindu majority.

At his rallies, he referred to Muslims as "infiltrators", and claimed the main opposition Congress party would redistribute the nation's wealth to Muslims if it won.