Counter-speech has emerged as a first-aid response of the civil society to the burgeoning and ever-changing forms and means of hate speech. Its appeal is enhanced by the fact that it is able to go beyond the rigours of law and legal framework to counter the harmful effects of hate speech. This paper discusses the initiation of such an approach in the Indian system in which counter speech has been very recently employed by the State authorities and other agencies to advocate for action against widespread hate. The aim is to explore and understand the ways and means in which counter-speech has been employedwithin either State systems or policies to the best advantage of all the actors involved in today’s pluralistic and global society. 

Keywords: ‘Hate Speech’; ‘Counter Speech’.