Comment by Riaz Haq on April 21, 2018 at 7:46pm

Savarkar’s Sanction to Use Rape as Political Weapon
Sangh Parivar’s silent support to accused in Kathua case derives from their icon Savarkar’s exhortation.

https://www.newsclick.in/savarkars-sanction-use-rape-political-weapon


Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, in one of his books Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History clearly explains why raping of Muslim women is justifiable and not to do so when the occasion permits is not virtuous or chivalrous but cowardly. (See Chapter VIII of the online edition made available by Mumbai-based Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak)

Savarkar explains at length that Hindus in the past had suffered from a ‘suicidal’ (para 452) sense of virtuousness and chivalry in showing mercy towards Muslim women by letting them off easily. He gives examples (para 450) of such famous figures as Chhatrapati Shivaji who reportedly let off the daughter in law of Muslim governor of Kalyan, and Peshwa Chimaji Apte who similarly allowed the wife of Portuguese governor of Bassein to leave unscathed.

In passionate tones Savarkar argues that since Muslim oppressors had been punishing Hindu women, the same treatment should be meted out to vanquished Muslim women by Hindu victors.

“Once they are haunted with this dreadful apprehension that the Muslim women too, stand in the same predicament in case the Hindus win, the future Muslim conquerors will never dare to think of such molestation of Hindu women,” he writes (para 451).

He argues that had Hindus adopted this policy of ravishing Muslim women from earlier times, their condition would have been far better than today:

“Suppose if from the earliest Muslim invasions of India, the Hindus also, whenever they were victors on the battlefields, had decided to pay the Muslim fair sex in the same coin or punished them in some other ways, i.e., by conversion even with force, and then absorbed them in their fold, then? Then with this horrible apprehension at their heart they would have desisted from their evil designs against any Hindu lady.” (para 455)

Apart from the erroneous notion which “every Hindu seems to have been made to suck, along with his mother's milk” (para 429-430) that religious tolerance is a virtue, Savarkar also identifies the “foolish notion” among Hindus that to have “any sort of relations with a Muslim woman meant their own conversion to Islam” (para 453) as the reason for avoiding raping them. He writes that this notion restrained Hindu men from punishing “Muslim feminine class” (para 454).

In case somebody starts feeling sympathetic towards Muslim women, Savarkar takes us on an unsubstantiated ride through all the wrongs that Muslim women have committed which include enticing Hindu girls and sending them to “Muslim centers in masjids and mosques” and generally supporting Muslim men in their violence against Hindus.

This is the kind of stuff RSS and its fronts have been propagating over the years and Veer Savarkar remains a much admired hero among Sangh parivar followers. It has inspired Hindu rioters to commit horrendous atrocities on Muslim women in Gujarat (2002) and Muzaffarnagar (2013), and many others.

So, for the rapists and murderers of Kathua or Unnao, whatever be their psychological compulsions, the ethical and ideological sustenance is drawn from none other than Veer Savarkar. Small wonder that it becomes so difficult for the Sangh Parivar to condemn them or take action. Small wonder that the list of BJP/Sangh members committing crimes against women goes on extending.

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 12, 2018 at 4:53pm

Study: One in two #Indian #Muslims fears being falsely accused in #terrorism cases. #Modi #Hindutva #Islamophobia

https://theprint.in/governance/one-in-two-indian-muslims-fears-bein...

A survey by NGO Common Cause and Lokniti shows Adivasis are most afraid of being framed for Maoist activities, while Dalits are afraid of being falsely accused of petty thefts.

New Delhi: The sense of being discriminated against by police is strongest among Muslims, especially those in Bihar, said a study that seeks to analyse the perception about police along state and community lines.

The survey was carried out by NGO Common Cause and Lokniti, a research initiative of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), among 15,563 respondents across 22 states in June and July 2017.

“Among the total number of respondents, 26 per cent of Muslims were of the view that police discriminated on the basis of religion, while less than 18 per cent of Hindus and 16 per cent of Sikhs thought the same,” the report added.

The researchers also discovered that as many as 44 per cent of Indians were fearful of being beaten up by police, a finding reported by ThePrint Monday in the first of its series of reports on the study.

According to the survey, over 47 per cent of Muslims across the country said they feared being falsely accused of terrorist activities. Trying to explain the perception, the researchers cited the “large proportion” of Muslims in the country’s jails. This sentiment was said to be most widely prevalent in Telangana.

The percentage of Muslims in jails is higher than the community’s share in the population of India, a fact, critics said, that stems from an alleged “systemic bias” against them.

The 2011 census pegged the Muslim population at 14.23 per cent; and, in 2014, the government told Rajya Sabha that people from the community comprised 16.68 per cent of convicts and 21.05 per cent of undertrials.

What Adivasis and Dalits fear
The report suggested a similar fear among the Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis) and the Scheduled Castes (Dalits). According to the survey, 27 per cent of the Adivasis said they feared being framed for anti-state Maoist activities, while 35 per cent of Dalits held a similar fear regarding petty thefts.

“Nearly two in every five… respondents said police falsely implicated members of backward castes such as Dalits in petty crimes including theft, robbery, dacoity,” the report said.

“One in four… was of the opinion that such a false implication of Adivasis and Muslims did occur,” it added.

The results of the survey also suggested a perception that caste-based discrimination among police personnel was most prevalent in Bihar, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

It said people were more likely to report class-based discriminatory attitudes of police, followed by gender- and caste-based discrimination.

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 2, 2018 at 8:11am

A wave of #religious intolerance is hitting big business in #India. A wave of religious intolerance as India heads toward elections is emerging as a new risk for its top companies. #Hindutva #Islamophobia #Modi #BJP https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-01/online-bigotry-i... via @bpolitics

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1013796775285555201

Over the past weeks, a telecom giant, the Indian lender led by Asia’s richest banker, and the local rival of Uber Technologies Inc. have been roiled by controversies linked to comments on Facebook and Twitter involving a minority community in the Hindu-dominated nation. All these started as social media posts, then gained a life of their own as people backed or vilified the comments, eventually forcing the companies to react to contain any damage.

Tensions on social media are mounting as the world’s largest democracy approaches elections early next year that will pit the Hindu nationalist beliefs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party against the main opposition, which often spotlights secularism and rising religious intolerance. Risk consultancy Kroll Inc. says it’s seeing an “exponential increase” in questions from corporate clients on how to manage the fallout from incidents on social media.

“It doesn’t just carry reputational and business risk, it can snowball into business continuity risks that can spread faster than a forest fire,” said Tarun Bhatia, a Mumbai-based managing director at Kroll. “Companies can’t choose their customers or control what they say. So it comes down to how companies manage these incidents, how quickly they react.”

Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s biggest telecommunications provider thanks to its 304 million subscribers, was tested on that recently. This is how it began: Around noon on June 18, Twitter user Pooja Singh complained about an Airtel customer service representative. An Airtel employee replied, promising to get back with more information, and signed off as “Shoaib.”

This is a recognizable Muslim name in a country currently riven by passionate teams of social media trolls, akin to the U.S. experience where political discourse often degenerates into hate-filled accusations.

“Dear Shohaib, as you’re a Muslim and I have no faith in your working ethics... requesting you to assign a Hindu representative for my request. Thanks,” Singh responded. Soon after, another Airtel rep named Gaganjot -- a clearly non-Muslim name -- promised to resolve Singh’s concern.

On the morning of June 20, Airtel published a statement on twitter refuting accusations that it gave in to Singh’s alleged discriminatory demand, something that had already attracted severe criticism of the carrier and threats to discontinue its services, including from opposition lawmakers. The statement said that both Shoaib and Gaganjot were just following established workflow processes that “got read as ‘bowing down to bigotry.”’

“Airtel has been resolute for 23 years” and “our training manuals will never carry instructions to pause and check one’s identity before serving a query,” the statement read. The company didn’t reply to an email from Bloomberg seeking further comment.

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 7, 2018 at 7:09pm

#America’s real #Muslim problem is #Islamophobia. It is time to recognize that the real Muslim threat in this country is to their well-being. And until we take their security seriously, none of us will be safe. #Trump #MuslimBan #Islam

https://www.salon.com/2018/07/07/americas-real-muslim-problem-is-is...

June 2018 was an especially bad month for the status of Muslims in America. First, we learned that a new study showed that many Americans view Muslims in the United States as insufficiently “American,” and almost 20 percent would deny Muslim citizens the right to vote. Then, the Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s decision to institute a ban on immigrants, refugees and visa holders from five majority-Muslim countries in a 5-4 decision.

The synergy of these two pieces of information is critical because it reveals a common attitude that Muslims pose a threat to U.S. security whether they are U.S. citizens or not. And while these attitudes do break down heavily across party lines, it is noteworthy that the study of U.S. perceptions of Muslim Americans conducted by Dalia Mogahed and John Sides for the Voter Study Group indicated that even 12 percent of Democrats would consider denying Muslim citizens the right to vote. Their study also showed that 32 percent of Democrats favor targeting Muslims at U.S. airport screenings to ensure the safety of flights. That figure compares with 75 percent of Republicans.

Taken together the Supreme Court decision and the voter study reveal a mainstreaming of Islamophobia. Whether aimed at Syrian refugees or U.S. citizens, these attitudes, policies and practices underscore the reality that America really has a Muslim problem — a problem seeing Muslims as human beings deserving of dignity, human rights and respect.

-----------------

It should go without saying, but I’ll emphasize the point here, that the fears over threats posed by Muslims are simply not borne out by facts. At all.

White males pose the biggest threat to U.S. citizens, but no one is talking about taking away their right to vote. And as Margaret Sullivan reported for the Washington Post, 2017 was the deadliest year for civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria, with as many as 6,000 people killed in strikes conducted by the U.S.-led coalition — an increase of more than 200 percent over the previous year. That number is far worse if you add in countries like Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia and others.

While bigotry toward a wide range of groups has been normalized in the Trump era, there are particular features of the targeting of Muslims as security threats that are noteworthy.

As Moustafa Bayoumi, author of "How Does it Feel to Be a Problem," explained it to me, the key turning point was obviously the attacks of 9/11/2001. Since then, he said, there has “been a relentless drive to delegitimize Muslim American citizenship.” In addition, he pointed out that for many non-Muslim Americans, there is a tendency to think of a Muslim citizen as a Muslim first, rather than a fellow American, an attitude buttressed by the fact that “U.S. support for policies targeting Muslims has been substantial and consistent.”

But here’s the thing. Fear of Muslims was not simply a spontaneous response to the events of 9/11. The current attitude of suspicion, fear and intolerance of the Muslim community was purposefully orchestrated. A team of researchers that studied the roots of Islamophobia in the United Sates following 9/11, published as "Fear Inc.," identified seven charitable groups that provided $42.6 million to Islamophobic think tanks between 2001 and 2009.

Their research was further able to show a direct line from Islamophobic think tanks, like the Richard Mellon Scaife foundation, to media influencers and politicians.

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 5, 2018 at 7:20am

Despicable #American #Media Coverage of #PakistanElections2018. US mainstream media has a voracious appetite for caricaturing, simplifying, and neatly categorizing non-Western people and life, especially #Muslims. 
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/the-despicable-american-media-co... via @GVS_News

There is a massive difference between a white American Anglo-Saxon Protestant’s galvanizing of white nationalism by inciting hate against minorities and the appeal to popular sovereignty by a political figure in a post-colonial society like Pakistan buried under the rubbles of neo-imperial power.


Take for instance an instructive example from the NY Times. After the elections, the title of an article on its twitter feed read as follows: “Is Imran Khan, a legendary cricket player and international sex symbol, about to become the leader of Pakistan, an Islamic republic with nuclear weapons?” And the editorial title read: “Nuclear-Armed Islamic Republic Gets Unpredictable New Leader.” These headlines and the commentaries that followed them toxically combine Islamophobia, Orientalist stereotyping, and copious expenditure of plain ignorance, verging on the bizarre.

They also smack of classic Orientalism: the insidious stereotyping of the East, the Orient, to establish the civilizational superiority of the West. Notice how the first title juxtaposes the image of the licentious brown body, unable to control its carnal desires, with that of the fanatic brown body, always on the precipice of violence. “A sex symbol with nuclear weapons:” how eerily analogous to 19th century Orientalist depictions of Muslims that sutured images of the sensually overflowing harem with that of the barbaric militant. Exoticization and dehumanization often go hand in hand.

Turning to Imran Khan, the newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister; it is true that in his younger years, he was an iconic and attractive cricketer with a massive global following among members of all genders. Yes, he did date multiple women and was widely admired and sought after, much like many other celebrities. But his dating life three to four decades ago is hardly even peripheral let alone central to his politics today. Yet, almost every Western, and sadly even many Indian commentaries on the Pakistani elections, have begun predictably, in the most hackneyed fashion, with a mention of Imran’s so-called “playboy” image and status during his long over cricketing years.

A far more important, ongoing, and relevant aspect of his non-political biography is his role as a leading philanthropist in Pakistan who established the biggest Cancer Hospital in the country in 1994, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital named after Khan’s mother who died of cancer, where a remarkable 70% patients have received free treatment for almost twenty-five years. He also established a leading university in rural Punjab, Namal University, where underprivileged students receive Bradford University degrees. These philanthropic achievements, a lot more central to Khan’s popularity among the Pakistani masses than his “sex appeal,” receive passing if any mention in the Western media. And the descriptor “unpredictable leader” for Khan is essentially a code word for a brown leader who is not an American stooge, like most of his predecessors.

Returning to the NY Times title: pause also at the phrase “an Islamic republic with nuclear weapons.” NY Times must remind its readers that we are talking about an “Islamic republic” lest they forget that this conversation is about the “Muslim other;” all other possible features and descriptions of a complicated country like Pakistan stand colonized by and reduced to its “Islamic-ness.” I wonder how often the Times has described Israel as a “Jewish state with nuclear weapons”?

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 2, 2018 at 3:52pm

#SanJose police officer alleges #racist department culture against #Muslims. “Captain, you forgot to mention Nabil. He is an #ISIS veteran. He was with ISIS for two years.” #Islamophobia #SiliconValley https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/San-Jose-police-officer-alle... via @SFGate

A veteran San Jose police officer filed a complaint Monday against the city and department alleging that he has been subject to harassment and discrimination because he is Lebanese American and Muslim.

Officer Nabil Haidar joined San Jose’s police force in 1996. But since 9/11, he said, he has regularly experienced harassment and discrimination. In the complaint filed Monday, Haidar alleges that other San Jose police officers said things like, “How many infidels are you planning to kill today?” and joked about him being associated with ISIS and terrorist groups.

“After 21 years on the force, and receiving those racial comments, at some point there is a breaking point,” Haidar told The Chronicle.

He said the first breaking point came on Veterans Day in 2017, during a briefing where about 70 officers and 15 command staff members were present. The captain thanked the veterans present, and a sergeant allegedly interjected: “Captain, you forgot to mention Nabil. He is an ISIS veteran. He was with ISIS for two years.”

Haidar attempted to address the comment after the meeting, he said, but officers kept joking and laughing it off. He then met with a crisis intervention team sergeant and was contacted by an internal affairs officer, according to the complaint. Nothing came out of an investigation, Haidar said.

Gina Teeporten, a San Jose Police Department spokeswoman, declined to comment on specific allegations, but she said the complaint was “unfair” in its depiction of the force’s overall culture.

“While we cannot comment on specific personnel matters or a pending lawsuit we have not yet reviewed, we can say that the statements made are an unfair characterization of this department,” she said in a statement.

“In general terms, when an allegation like this is made they are dealt with quickly and, if valid, severely,” Teeporten said. “Our diversity is our greatest strength and evidence of how we value diversity is reflected in our policies, actions and initiatives both internally and in our community.”

Haidar alleges that the harassment continued through Jan. 15, 2018, when he was on the scene of a burglary in progress. Other officers made disparaging racial comments, he said, adding that he believes the San Jose Police Department has his body-worn camera footage of the incident. Haidar said he asked to transfer to a desk job in the Recruitment Unit that same day.

“I had to respond to a highly stressful situation and in the middle of it, I also had to make sure to look behind my back at officers in my own department,” he said.

Haidar’s complaint bears a striking similarity to a complaint lodged by a San Francisco police officer last month. The officer, a Muslim who emigrated from Afghanistan, told media that he was repeatedly harassed on the basis of his race and religion. He also alleged that fellow officers made disparaging comments and jokes about ISIS, bombs and terrorism. The officer — who asked the media to withhold his identity — said he sought an internal investigation and nothing had come of it.

Filing the complaint with the city is the first step toward litigation, said Haidar’s attorney, Randall Strauss. San Jose officials now have 45 days to accept or reject the claim.

“It’s a rare event for an entity to accept a claim, so as a matter of course I assume they’ll reject it,” Strauss said. “We are then permitted to pursue litigation in court.”

Haidar is seeking damages upwards of $6 million.

“All I’m asking is for accountability,” he said. “I want them to accept the facts, that these things happened. I would like to have the chief to enforce policies which already exist.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 22, 2019 at 8:03pm

Republican members of Congress stayed away from Iftar organized by Muslim lawmakers in Washington https://www.npr.org/2019/05/21/725308102/muslim-lawmakers-host-rama...

As Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was wrapping up her remarks to the crowd at a Ramadan gathering on Capitol Hill late Monday, she spotted a familiar face in the front row.

It was Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who was famously mocked by then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 race. Omar told the audience she remembered how Trump had belittled Khan's wife by saying he wasn't sure if Muslim women were allowed to speak.

"Little did they know they were going to get the two loudest Muslim women in the country in Congress!" Omar said, drawing cheers from the largely Muslim audience.

Omar and Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, certainly are known for their words. Exuberant outbursts, tone-deaf tweets, ahistorical musings, slips of the tongue – whatever the intention, virtually anything they say becomes fodder for right-wing media outlets that depict them as dangerously anti-American.

In the relentless noise surrounding Tlaib and Omar, the gathering Monday night stood out for the quiet.

The two were in the Capitol for an invitation-only iftar, the meal that breaks the fast at sundown each day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, traditionally a time for introspection and goodwill. Apart from brief remarks, both women stayed away from the microphone. They hugged friends and exchanged the seasonal greeting, "Ramadan mubarak."

At one point, Omar bowed her head and seemed to tune out the world, as if she weren't being stared at by a roomful of fans who all wanted selfies with her. After an imam recited the Islamic call to prayer, signaling it was time to break the fast, Omar plucked a date from a bowl on her table and took a bite. Camera shutters clicked like paparazzi on a Hollywood red carpet.

The small expressions of faith that make Omar and Tlaib curiosities on the Hill are what make them familiar and thrilling to the dozens of Muslim supporters who clamored around them. Several offered prayers and encouragement. "Stay strong!" one man told Omar.

In speeches from the podium and in conversations over ice-cream sundaes, Muslim guests repeated two main themes: pride in having their faith reflected in Congress and dismay at the ferocity of the criticism leveled at the Muslim representatives.

"Everything that they say is picked apart, 10 times more, every single day, no matter what it is," said Haval Salih, who works in the medical field and was invited to the iftar by a friend. "It just shows how strong they are. They're still here, they're still pushing for change, they're still giving us hope."

The iftar was organized by the nonprofit Muslim Advocates in coordination with the offices of Tlaib, Omar and the third Muslim in Congress, long-serving Democratic Rep. André Carson of Indiana. Several prominent Democrats attended, including Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, respectively the number-two ranking Democrats in the Senate and House, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

The event filled a void on the social calendars of Muslims in the Washington political class. The White House iftar once was the highest-profile invitation of the season, but that's changed since President Barack Obama left office.

Trump, who's repeatedly bashed Islam and Muslims, issued a Ramadan greeting this year that called for work toward "a more harmonious and respectful society." The White House iftar's guest list, however, has narrowed to mainly diplomats. No more invitations for Muslim community leaders – a relief for many who privately say they'd boycott, anyway, because of the travel ban and Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 27, 2019 at 10:45pm

In a speech last year #DalaiLama said that refugees to the #EuropeanUnion should ultimately return home, adding that "Europe is for Europeans" "A limited number is OK, but the whole of #Europe [will] eventually become #Muslim country, #African country:. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48772175

The Dalai Lama's world view is inherently global. When we discuss Brexit he tells me that he is "an admirer of the European Union" pointing out that global partnerships have been key in avoiding major conflicts.

But the world's most famous refugee has some surprising views on immigration.

In a speech last year he said that refugees to the European Union should ultimately return home, adding that "Europe is for Europeans", a statement he stood by when I challenged him on it.

"European countries should take these refugees and give them education and training, and the aim is return to their own land with certain skills," he said.

The Dalai Lama believes the end game should be to rebuild the countries people have fled. But with some 70 million people displaced across the world according to the latest figures, what if people want to stay?

"A limited number is OK, but the whole of Europe [will] eventually become Muslim country, African country - impossible," he said. A controversial viewpoint, and a reminder that while the Dalai Lama is a spiritual figurehead he is also a politician with views and opinions like everyone else.

Later in our conversation I also challenged him on another remark he made in 2015, when he said if he was followed by a female Dalai Lama she would have to be attractive.

In another surprise, he reaffirmed his belief that beauty matters as much as brains. "If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive," he told me while laughing.

His message seemed at odds for a man who preaches a message of tolerance and inner confidence, but the Dalai Lama told me that in Buddhist literature both inner and outer beauty matter. He also said that equality was important and was keen to stress that he supported women's rights and equal pay in the workplace.

As the interview drew to a close, I was struck by how unexpectedly frank our discussion had been, which reminded me of something the Dalai Lama had told me earlier in the day.

One advantage of not being able to return home to Tibet, he said, was that India is a free country where he can express himself openly.

The Dalai Lama's message of unity is universal - but for a man famed for his compassion, he can also be controversial.

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 1, 2019 at 7:42pm

Why Does #Trump Fan Flames of #Race-Based #Terrorism? Since October, #FBI has made 90 arrests in domestic terrorism cases including violence by Americans who belong to anti-government militias and #WhiteSupremacists not connected to #Islamic extremism. https://nyti.ms/2ypZ6nZ

By Frank Figliuzzi
Mr. Figliuzzi is a former assistant F.B.I. director for counterintelligence.

Reporting indicates that Mr. Trump’s rants emboldened white hate groups and reinforced racist blogs, news sites and social media platforms. In response to his tweets, one of the four lawmakers, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, said: “This is the agenda of white nationalists, whether it is happening in chat rooms or it’s happening on national TV. And now it’s reached the White House garden.” She’s right.

-----------------
If I learned anything from 25 years in the F.B.I., including a stint as head of counterintelligence, it was to trust my gut when I see a threat unfolding. Those of us who were part of the post-Sept. 11 intelligence community had a duty to sound the alarm about an impending threat.

Now, instinct and experience tell me we’re headed for trouble in the form of white hate violence stoked by a racially divisive president. I hope I’m wrong.

Since October, the F.B.I. has made 90 arrests in domestic terrorism cases. Domestic terrorism includes violence by Americans who belong to anti-government militias, white supremacist groups or individuals who ascribe to similar ideologies not connected to Islamic extremism. In fact, the F.B.I. says that of its 850 pending domestic terror investigations, about 40 percent involve racially motivated extremism. In 2017 and 2018, the F.B.I. made more arrests connected to domestic terror than to international terrorism, which includes groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State and their lone-wolf recruits.

Last weekend, a young man with a rifle took the lives of three people and injured at least a dozen others at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. Preliminary reports indicated that among the gunman’s social media postings was an exhortation to read the obscure 1890 novel “Might Is Right,” which justifies racism and asserts that people of color are biologically inferior

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 5, 2020 at 1:18pm

#India’s #lockdowns and #Islamophobia. Vitriol against #Muslims—and all of #Islam—from “bhakts” (staunch #Modi supporters), flowed online. Hashtags like #BioJihad and #CoronoJihad trended on Twitter seen by up to as many as 165 million people. https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/the-tow-center-covid-19-newsletter-i... via @cjr

On April 21, Facebook announced a $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms Limited, India’s largest—and the world’s third-largest—mobile network operator, with over 370 million subscribers. In their official announcement, representatives of Facebook wrote, “India is in the midst of one of the most dynamic social and economic transformations the world has ever seen, driven by the rapid adoption of digital technologies.” The rest of the announcement focused on how this collaboration would seek to empower Indian businesses.

But in augmenting its association with India, where it already has 280 million users, Facebook must also come to reckon with India’s fraught and divided media.

Indian publications are divided on their portrayal of Narendra Modi’s BJP government. In August 2019, the government annexed Jammu and Kashmir and subsequently imposed an internet shutdown in the region (at 213 days, the longest ever Internet shutdown in a democracy). Outlets differed in their portrayal of the situation in Kashmir, some arguing that things were rapidly returning to normal, others drawing attention to human rights violations running rampant. The December 19th 2019 passage of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which expedites Indian citizenship for migrants from three of India’s neighbours of any regional religion except Islam, was met with similarly polarized coverage.

Recently, this division has shaped Indian coverage of COVID-19. On April 5, the government claimed to link more than a thousand positive COVID-19 cases to the annual meeting of a Muslim missionary group, the Tablighi Jamaat between March 8th and 10th.

Vitriol against the group—and all of Islam—from “bhakts” (staunch Modi supporters), flowed online. Hashtags like #BioJihad and #CoronoJihad trended on Twitter, the latter seen by up to as many as 165 million people according to an analysis by Equality Labs, an activist organization in the US. Understandably, missionaries who were at the meeting were required by law to report to health authorities in their home states. Less understandably, in some states they were told they would be charged with attempted murder if they failed to do so. Many in the media blamed the spread of Coronavirus on India’s Muslims.

In the midst of this frenzy of hate, The Wire, a publication often critical of the Modi government’s Hindu nationalism, published a story on March 31 pointing out that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Yogi Adityanath, okayed and attended a Hindu religious ceremony on March 25 along with dozens of others in violation of a nationwide lockdown. A day after the story ran, the UP government registered 2 FIRs—requests for information that might lead to future arrest—against The Wire’s editor, Siddharth Varadrajan. Varadrajan had misattributed a quote by another person associated with the event to Adityanath. For this single, misquote Varadrajan was charged with five violations of four different laws, including transmission of obscene material and computerized identity theft.

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