The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicts the Indian government for adopting laws and policies “that discriminated against religious minorities, especially Muslims”. The annual report, though chides Pakistan for its policies to stifle opposition and dissidents, however, comes hard on the ruling BJP leaders and the ruling functionaries for the vilification of Muslims by extremist Hindus and hardcore BJP factions for their open announcements for the genocide of Muslims and other minorities and inaction of the government against such outfits. Until now, civil society activists based in Pakistan and India have been raising their voice against Indian misogynists, ethnic animosity, and anti-Muslim and anti-Christian policies. In a very rare incident, the perpetrators involved in the fake online auction of Muslim women were arrested by the Mumbai police. Notwithstanding the appreciable actions of Mumbai police in this case, a similar sort of case was mishandled by the Delhi police last year when the culprits were not arrested. The Mumbai police arrested three people for sharing photos of more than 100 Muslim women online as an “on-sale” product. The police’s stance is that the “mastermind” of the incident is under police custody and a formal probe is being carried out. The photographs of a majority of significant Muslim activists and journalists were uploaded on the Bulli Bai app for “auction”. The issue attracted the international limelight when screenshots and messages on social media were shared by several women who featured on it. A day after the photos had gone up, the app was taken down because of the severe protests and outrage from Muslim women victims, rights activists, and others. The Delhi police, however, remained unmoved.
In recent years in the Indian polarized political climate, trolling against Muslim women has worsened. The state of India is home to Muslims, which make the 14 percent of the entire population of the country. Earlier, a gathering of the Hindu extremists last month openly called for the genocide of the Muslims. The Indian police have yet to take action against the organizers of the gathering, Similarly, the lynching incidents of Muslims are on the rise. In such a scenario, the report of the HRW serves as an alarm to the world regarding the situation of Muslims and other minorities living in India.
