Beaten and humiliated for being a Muslim in India
IMAGE SOURCEANIimage caption
A Muslim man was paraded through the streets as his crying daughter begged the mob to stop hitting him
Unprovoked attacks on Muslims by Hindu mobs have become routine in India, but they seem to evoke little condemnation from the government.
Last month, a video that went viral on social media showed a terrified little girl clinging to her Muslim father as a Hindu mob assaulted him.
The distressing footage showed the 45-year-old rickshaw driver being paraded through the streets of Kanpur, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, as his crying daughter begged the mob to stop hitting him.
His attackers asked him to chant "Hindustan Zindabad" or "Long Live India" and "Jai Shri Ram" or "Victory to Lord Ram" - a popular greeting that's been turned into a murder cry by Hindu lynch mobs in recent years.
He complied, but the mob still kept hitting him. The man and his daughter were eventually rescued by the police. Three men arrested for the attack were freed on bail a day later.
A few days later, another viral video surfaced showing a Muslim bangle-seller being slapped, kicked and punched by a Hindu mob in Indore, a city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. The attackers could be heard abusing Tasleem Ali and telling him to stay away from Hindu areas in future.
In a police complaint, he later alleged that he had been "beaten by five-six men who hurled communal slurs at him for selling bangles in a Hindu-dominated area and robbed him of money, his phone and some documents".
But in a strange turn of events, Ali himself was arrested the next day after the 13-year-old daughter of one of his alleged attackers accused him of molesting her. His family and neighbours have strongly denied the accusation. They said it was inconceivable that the father of five would do something like that.
And eyewitnesses, quoted in the Indian press, said he was attacked because of his religious identity and the molestation accusation against him seemed to be an afterthought.
The two attacks were among several instances of anti-Muslim violence in August, but the last month by no means was cruellest for India's biggest religious minority group, with a population of more than 200 million.
Unprovoked attacks on Muslims by Hindu mobs have become routine in India, but they seem to evoke little condemnation from the government.
Last month, a video that went viral on social media showed a terrified little girl clinging to her Muslim father as a Hindu mob assaulted him.
The distressing footage showed the 45-year-old rickshaw driver being paraded through the streets of Kanpur, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, as his crying daughter begged the mob to stop hitting him.
His attackers asked him to chant "Hindustan Zindabad" or "Long Live India" and "Jai Shri Ram" or "Victory to Lord Ram" - a popular greeting that's been turned into a murder cry by Hindu lynch mobs in recent years.
He complied, but the mob still kept hitting him. The man and his daughter were eventually rescued by the police. Three men arrested for the attack were freed on bail a day later.
A few days later, another viral video surfaced showing a Muslim bangle-seller being slapped, kicked and punched by a Hindu mob in Indore, a city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. The attackers could be heard abusing Tasleem Ali and telling him to stay away from Hindu areas in future.
In a police complaint, he later alleged that he had been "beaten by five-six men who hurled communal slurs at him for selling bangles in a Hindu-dominated area and robbed him of money, his phone and some documents".
But in a strange turn of events, Ali himself was arrested the next day after the 13-year-old daughter of one of his alleged attackers accused him of molesting her. His family and neighbours have strongly denied the accusation. They said it was inconceivable that the father of five would do something like that.
And eyewitnesses, quoted in the Indian press, said he was attacked because of his religious identity and the molestation accusation against him seemed to be an afterthought.
The two attacks were among several instances of anti-Muslim violence in August, but the last month by no means was cruellest for India's biggest religious minority group, with a population of more than 200 million.
IMAGE SOURCEGETTY IMAGESimage caption
Critics say anti-Muslim violence has risen sharply since 2014 under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Similar attacks were reported in the preceding months too - and many made headlines.
"The violence is overwhelming. It's rampant and common and also very acceptable," says Alishan Jafri, a freelance journalist who's been documenting attacks on Indian Muslims for the past three years.
He says he comes across "three-four such videos every day" but is able to verify only one or two which he then shares on social media.
Religious faultlines have existed in India for a long time but, critics say, anti-Muslim violence has risen since 2014 under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Communal violence is not a recent phenomenon, but it grows in sync with the strategies of those in power and political mobilisation," Prof Tanvir Aeijaz, who teaches politics science at Delhi University, told the BBC.
"The distrust was always there but cleavages have been sharpened now by religious nationalism and ethno-nationalism."
During Mr Modi's first term in power, there were numerous incidents of Muslims being attacked by so-called "cow vigilantes" over rumours that they had eaten beef, or that they were trying to smuggle cows - an animal many Hindus consider holy - for slaughter.
The prime minister did not condone such attacks, but was criticised for not condemning them quickly or strongly enough either.
Prakash Javadekar, a senior BJP leader, told the BBC that "the government believes that lynching is bad, wherever it happens. But law and order is a state subject and it is their responsibility to deal with it".
He then went on to accuse the media of "biased and selective journalism" by focusing on attacks on Muslims.
"If you look at official data, there were 160 Hindus among the 200 people who were lynched. People of all faiths were targeted," he said, but did not give details of where the data could be found. India does not gather such data.
In 2019, a fact-checker website that counted "hate crimes" in India reported that more than 90% of victims in the past 10 years were Muslims.
Similar attacks were reported in the preceding months too - and many made headlines.
- In March, a 14-year-old Muslim boy who had entered a Hindu temple to drink water was violently assaulted
- In June, a vendor was beaten up in Delhi for trying to sell fruit in a Hindu locality
"The violence is overwhelming. It's rampant and common and also very acceptable," says Alishan Jafri, a freelance journalist who's been documenting attacks on Indian Muslims for the past three years.
He says he comes across "three-four such videos every day" but is able to verify only one or two which he then shares on social media.
Religious faultlines have existed in India for a long time but, critics say, anti-Muslim violence has risen since 2014 under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Communal violence is not a recent phenomenon, but it grows in sync with the strategies of those in power and political mobilisation," Prof Tanvir Aeijaz, who teaches politics science at Delhi University, told the BBC.
"The distrust was always there but cleavages have been sharpened now by religious nationalism and ethno-nationalism."
During Mr Modi's first term in power, there were numerous incidents of Muslims being attacked by so-called "cow vigilantes" over rumours that they had eaten beef, or that they were trying to smuggle cows - an animal many Hindus consider holy - for slaughter.
The prime minister did not condone such attacks, but was criticised for not condemning them quickly or strongly enough either.
Prakash Javadekar, a senior BJP leader, told the BBC that "the government believes that lynching is bad, wherever it happens. But law and order is a state subject and it is their responsibility to deal with it".
He then went on to accuse the media of "biased and selective journalism" by focusing on attacks on Muslims.
"If you look at official data, there were 160 Hindus among the 200 people who were lynched. People of all faiths were targeted," he said, but did not give details of where the data could be found. India does not gather such data.
In 2019, a fact-checker website that counted "hate crimes" in India reported that more than 90% of victims in the past 10 years were Muslims.
IMAGE SOURCESHURAIH NIYAZI/BBCimage caption
A screen grab of the viral video showing a bangle-seller being assaulted in Indore
And the perpetrators of the attacks remain unpunished amid accusations that they enjoy political patronage from Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party after a government minister garlanded eight Hindus convicted for lynching a Muslim.
"Such attacks have become so common in our country today only and only because of the impunity these thugs enjoy," says Hasiba Amin, a social media co-ordinator for the opposition Congress party.
"Today hate has gone mainstream. It is cool to go attack Muslims. The hate mongers are also rewarded for their actions."
Critics say since Mr Modi's return to power for a second term in 2019, the anti-Muslim violence has expanded in its scope.
Sometimes, the violence is not even physical and takes a more subtle, insidious form that appears aimed at vilifying and demonising the minority community. For example:
Last year, as Covid-19 began to take hold of India, Hindu leaders, including Mr Modi's ministers and party colleagues, accused Muslim men, who had attended a religious gathering in Delhi, of "corona jihad" by indulging in behaviour that would spread the virus
Then followed "roti jihad" which included wild allegations that Muslim cooks were spitting on roti - handmade bread - to spread the virus to Hindus
In recent months, several states have introduced laws to curb "love jihad" - an Islamophobic term fringe Hindu groups use to imply that Muslim men prey on Hindu women to convert them to Islam through marriage.
The laws are being used to harass and jail Muslim men in interfaith relations with Hindu women. Last December, the plight of a pregnant Hindu woman, who was forcibly separated from her Muslim husband, made headlines when she suffered a miscarriage.
And the perpetrators of the attacks remain unpunished amid accusations that they enjoy political patronage from Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party after a government minister garlanded eight Hindus convicted for lynching a Muslim.
"Such attacks have become so common in our country today only and only because of the impunity these thugs enjoy," says Hasiba Amin, a social media co-ordinator for the opposition Congress party.
"Today hate has gone mainstream. It is cool to go attack Muslims. The hate mongers are also rewarded for their actions."
Critics say since Mr Modi's return to power for a second term in 2019, the anti-Muslim violence has expanded in its scope.
Sometimes, the violence is not even physical and takes a more subtle, insidious form that appears aimed at vilifying and demonising the minority community. For example:
Last year, as Covid-19 began to take hold of India, Hindu leaders, including Mr Modi's ministers and party colleagues, accused Muslim men, who had attended a religious gathering in Delhi, of "corona jihad" by indulging in behaviour that would spread the virus
Then followed "roti jihad" which included wild allegations that Muslim cooks were spitting on roti - handmade bread - to spread the virus to Hindus
In recent months, several states have introduced laws to curb "love jihad" - an Islamophobic term fringe Hindu groups use to imply that Muslim men prey on Hindu women to convert them to Islam through marriage.
The laws are being used to harass and jail Muslim men in interfaith relations with Hindu women. Last December, the plight of a pregnant Hindu woman, who was forcibly separated from her Muslim husband, made headlines when she suffered a miscarriage.
IMAGE SOURCEGETTY IMAGESimage caption
Muslims protest against the mob lynching of Tabrez Ansari in June 2019
Muslim women haven't been spared either - in July, dozens of them found they had been put up "for sale" online. In May, many of them, including Ms Amin of the Congress party, were offered in a mock online "auction".
And last month, participants at a rally, organised by a former BJP leader in Delhi, shouted slogans calling for Muslims to be killed.
"It's a very sustained, organised campaign by nationalist politicians to radicalise Hindus into believing that Muslims need to be marginalised if Hindus are to progress," says Mr Jafri.
Prof Aeijaz says the attack on working class Muslims, such as tailors, fruit vendors, electricians, plumbers and bangle sellers, is also an attempt to take control of the political economy and jobs through religious nationalism.
"The religious divide has deepened. The distrust has deepened. But the hate is also for profit. The idea it to make Muslims the other, the enemy.
"The process of creating the other is by propagating the idea that if we don't destroy the other, we will be destroyed. So you stoke hate, create fear, and violence is part of this larger narrative."
But religious nationalism, Prof Aeijaz says, is a dangerous idea that can lead to sectarian violence.
"The buck stops with the political executive in a parliamentary democracy. How long can they look the other way?"
Muslim women haven't been spared either - in July, dozens of them found they had been put up "for sale" online. In May, many of them, including Ms Amin of the Congress party, were offered in a mock online "auction".
And last month, participants at a rally, organised by a former BJP leader in Delhi, shouted slogans calling for Muslims to be killed.
"It's a very sustained, organised campaign by nationalist politicians to radicalise Hindus into believing that Muslims need to be marginalised if Hindus are to progress," says Mr Jafri.
Prof Aeijaz says the attack on working class Muslims, such as tailors, fruit vendors, electricians, plumbers and bangle sellers, is also an attempt to take control of the political economy and jobs through religious nationalism.
"The religious divide has deepened. The distrust has deepened. But the hate is also for profit. The idea it to make Muslims the other, the enemy.
"The process of creating the other is by propagating the idea that if we don't destroy the other, we will be destroyed. So you stoke hate, create fear, and violence is part of this larger narrative."
But religious nationalism, Prof Aeijaz says, is a dangerous idea that can lead to sectarian violence.
"The buck stops with the political executive in a parliamentary democracy. How long can they look the other way?"
Perhaps Muslims in Malaysia will now understand how the nons feel with the way they (the nons) have been treated here in Malaysia although not to the degree of violence as is seen in India against the Muslims.
ReplyDeleteIs this why no Afghan refugees want to settle in Yindia? Maybe they should try Sunni Saudi Arabia, they should feel at home there. Xinjiang is another option. It's just across the panhandle border. Telly-ban should negotiate with their BFF Bully to accept Afghans who don't like Telly-gomen. Just like 5000 yo Bullyland allow their citizens to get foreign passports and emigrate to the west if they don't like the Motherland.
ReplyDeleteThe Right to Choose Where to Live is a Basic Human Right, which Telly-ban now claims to subscribe to.
But 99% of Afghan refugees want to settle in 500 yo Bullyland, or Western Europe, full of Christians, Jews and Atheists, countries that don't have Sharia Law, "don't care for Afghan welfare when they Occupy Afghanistan for 20 years". So desperate they cling on to wheels of airplanes as they took off Kabul airport. I wonder why.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/08/18/afghanistan-taliban-rights-pledges-raise-concerns
QUOTE
(New York) – Afghanistan’s new Taliban leadership has pledged to respect human rights using vague qualifications that heighten concerns about their credibility. During a news conference in Kabul on August 17, 2021, a Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, sought to reassure Afghan civilians and the international community about the new government’s support for human rights, including the rights of women and girls, media freedom, and protections for former government personnel.
The Taliban should publicly commit to upholding Afghanistan’s international human rights treaty obligations and allowing United Nations and independent international observers into the country to monitor and promote protection of human rights.
“The Taliban need to demonstrate their commitment to human rights through actions, not vague words,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Gaining the trust of the nation and the world will require Taliban authorities throughout Afghanistan to respect everyone’s human rights and permit the United Nations and other independent entities to monitor human rights conditions.”
UNQUOTE
Those Afghans congregating at the Kabul airport r the coworkers of those western forces. Those western forces have the 'humanistic' duty to airlift them out.
DeleteYet many of those who have been 'chauffeured' away to thosr foreign military bases r now facing UNCERTAIN futures!
They got out & yet not many r getting resettled into a new society of their choice.
Many western bleeding-hearted nations r jostling for reasons NOT to accept them as legitimate refugees!
Germany, France, Italy and the UK are conducting smaller evacuation efforts for their nationals and some Afghans.
US has airlifted over 124,000 afghan civilians from the war-torn country & temporary housed them in various US military bases in Qatar & Germany.
Hangar 5 at the giant US RAMSTEIN air base in Germany currently has closed to 25,000 Afghans wanting to be taken to America.
70,000 Afghans r transiting through Al Udeid. The base is home to the headquarters of Centcom and US Air Force Central Command in Qatar.
So far, USofA has officially declared that only 20,000 SIV would be offered to those Afghans. Special Immigrant Visas - SIVs are a special program to protect Afghans who risked their lives working for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
What would happen to those other Afghans who r been refused SIV. Where would they go? How long would they be camped within a 'concentration camps not of their choice?
Mmmm… forever been encamped within remote refugee camps, liken to those economic refugees that the Ozzie has been doing in those pacific islands surrounding that great kangaroo land!
Or those Vietnamese boat people in those m'sia islands for yrs, until some countries finally speeded up their resettlement process!
Blurred mfer, that's yr human right parlays for those Afghans, RIGHT?
Strange when the Soviet’s cabut in 1989 no Afghans were seen hanging on to the wheels of departing Antonov planes. Nobody wanted to settle in Russia. They still prefer Sharia.
DeleteSimilarly when 5000 yo Bullyland quietly cabut from Kabul in 1993 no Afghan asked to be settled in Xinjiang. Life under Mullahs is fine.
But last few weeks hundreds of thousands of Afghans wanted so desperately to escape the Telly-ban for the Land of The Free and Easy. They had tasted the Good Life for 20 years, under the protection of the Allied Forces.
Strange when the Soviet’s cabut in 1989 no Afghans were seen hanging on to the wheels of departing Antonov planes. Nobody wanted to settle in Russia. They still prefer Sharia.
DeleteSimilarly when 5000 yo Bullyland quietly cabut from Kabul in 1993 no Afghan asked to be settled in Xinjiang. Life under Mullahs is fine.
But last few weeks hundreds of thousands of Afghans wanted so desperately to escape the Telly-ban for the Land of The Free and Easy. They had tasted the Good Life for 20 years, under the protection of the Allied Forces.
Strange when the Soviet’s cabut in 1989 no Afghans were seen hanging on to the wheels of departing Antonov planes. Nobody wanted to settle in Russia. They still prefer Sharia.
DeleteSimilarly when 5000 yo Bullyland quietly cabut from Kabul in 1993 no Afghan asked to be settled in Xinjiang. Life under Mullahs is fine.
But last few weeks hundreds of thousands of Afghans wanted so desperately to escape the Telly-ban for the Land of The Free and Easy. They had tasted the Good Life for 20 years, under the protection of the Allied Forces.
Wakakakakaka…
DeleteWhat a f*cked interpretation of the afghanistan by a know-nothing blurred mfer!
When the Soviet retreated from Afghanistan in 1989, it took them 9 months to complete the withdrawal!
In 1993 China repatriated her diplomatic personnel to avoid the raging civil war within Kabul.
Many nations did the same, including Yankee, pommie, dingo etc etc.
In the August of 2021, uncle Sam had only one month to complete the unplanned & unilateral complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan!
Those hundreds of thousands of Afghans who gathered at the Kabul airport were
1) they r Yankee & his allies' collaborators. Indeed, They had tasted the Good Life for 20 years, under the protection of the Allied Forces.
2) there were too short a time to move that large numbers of people under a harebrained decision of a sleepy president. Limited time, large crowd, thus the overflowing capacity near Kabul airport!
3) they all thought that they would be give free passage to any countries outside Afghanistan.
How wrong they r! Exchanging dragged & possible victimization inside their own country to be refugees that would trap inside concentration camps all-over the US military bases - the Land of The Free and Easy that they would never thought of!
Hundreds of thousands have been locked up and humiliated for being a Uyghur Muslim in the People's Republic of China.
ReplyDeleteYou either have poor judgment and lousy discernment of western propaganda from the truth or truly prejudice against all thing Chinese. Here's the truth about the conditions in your utopia country :
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5HVhY6iZMw
This old moneyed mfer has ran out of things to fart.
DeleteThus has to keep regurgitating cesspool concentrate that he dug up from that fart filled well.