Samajwadi Party (SP) Maharashtra president and MLA Abu Asim Azmi submitted a private member bill under the name “The Prevention of Hatred and Insult to Religion Act, 2025” to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly principal secretary on June 17.
The SP-powered legislation seeks to address the growing number of cases of hate speech that denigrate communities and harm religious sentiments, especially on social media platforms. The legislation has been proposed amidst a wave of hate crimes and hate speech against Muslims across Maharashtra.
The draft of the bill, as it stands, prescribes strict punishment for individuals found in violation of the law. Those convicted under the proposed law would face sentences ranging anywhere between 7 years in prison all the way to life imprisonment, and/or penalising fines up to Rs 2 lakh.
This would pertain to any person found to be disseminating hate speech regarding any religion, its scriptures, idols, places of worship, etc. In essence, the bill targets all hate speech around any religious figure.
The draft also seeks to address the growing misuse of social media platforms as breeding grounds for hate speech and violent groups.
Azmi further stated that the bill is not only in congruence with the secular and egalitarian values enshrined in the Constitution, but also reinforces them.
“This bill is meant to safeguard the holiness of every religion, and the dignity of their scriptures,” Azmi wrote in a post on Instagram. “SP has a clear message – there is no place in the state for those who spread religious hatred.”
Azmi urged the Maharashtra government to take the bill into serious consideration in a quickly worsening law and order situation. The state has suffered tens of communal clashes in 2025 alone, based on hate speech against one religion or the other.
Just last week, a 24-year-old Muslim man was killed in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar in an altercation over objectionable social media posts on June 12. His family refused to let the police conduct a post-mortem until all the accused were arrested, and only relented when All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Maharashtra president and former MP Imtiyaz Jaleel vowed that he would stage a protest if the police did not investigate the incident properly.
Speaking to Siasat.com, Azmi said that the bill is a direct answer to hate crimes borne out of online hate speech. “There are so many incidents of communal clashes, communal killings coming out from all over India,” said the MLA.
“Whether it’s a case of somebody speaking disrespectfully of the Prophet Muhammad offending the Muslim community, or someone making condemnable comments about Babasaheb Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar offending the Dalit community, it is the same issue,” added Azmi.
Further questioning the state of law and order in Maharashtra under the Fadnavis-led government, Azmi asked, “Does our Constitution not guarantee equal rights for all faiths? Why does the Muslim community become a target? When people read namaz outside of a mosque due to overcrowding, it leads to rioting, badmouthing.. When roads are shut down every year for Ganesh Chaturthi, where does the outrage go? Does the Constitution not apply in Maharashtra?”
“Hate crime is a result of hate speech,” said Nazmi, addressing the recent surge in hate crimes in the state. “Hate crime against any religion is wrong. For communal harmony and peaceful coexistence in the state, we must begin by respecting one another.”
The bill’s preamble begins with a similar message of hope: “With a view to ensuring that the people of the state live in harmony, rights are preserved, and to prevent the spreading of enmity, hatred, and ill will in society, it is hereby enacted in the 76th Republic of India as follows: it may be called The Prevention of Hatred and Insult to Religion Act, 2025.”
The bill is set to be tabled in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in the upcoming monsoon session.
| Edited by Syeda Faiza Kirmani | 
