Two Religious controversies Two Views in India

Opinion

Two Religious controversies Two Views in India   

Syed Ali Mujtaba

In India, two religious controversies are raging on. First, the adverse remarks made by the BJP office-bearer Nupur Sharma, and second the poster of the documentary film “Kaali” released by its director Leena Manimekalai.

While Nurpur Sharma incensed the feelings of the Muslims by her remarks against the Prophet, purposefully tarring his image, Leena Manimekalai demeaned Kaali, one of the most revered deities of the Hindu religion, through the poster of her documentary film.

Although the government of India took measures to douse the flames lit up by the BJP functionary, no BJP leader or Sangh Parivar or Hindu religious heads uttered a word of condemnation against the Hindu hate monger. Their conspiracy of silence has given support to Nupur Sharma’s diatribe, which is a new normal in India.

However, when the Supreme Court of India made some scathing remarks against a female hate monger, more than 100 eminent citizens of the country including Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju hauled the Supreme Court judge for his unnecessary comments about Ms. Sharma. Their attack on the judge inadvertently sounded as if they are supporting Nupur Sharma’s words against the Prophet of Islam.  

The scene changes to Canada and the spotlight focuses on the poster of the film Kaali, released by its director of Leena Manimekalai, and the entire discourse of hurting the religious sentiments change from the Muslims (they) and Hindus (we).

A hell gets to let loose in India and sermons are being given; “Liberty comes along with sensitivity, freedom comes along with responsibility, can we live in the world without being sensitive, respectful, and responsible,” demanding the arrest of the filmmaker Leena Manimekalai.

A forceful narrative is built in India that Leena Manimekalai has hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus. There is a cacophony to arrest Manimekalai from Canada and bring her to India, while Indian citizen Nupur Sharma is shielded in some safe heaven to avoid probable arrest. These are two parameters to judge two religious controversies in India. Means, its wearer alone knows where the shoe pinches!   

The fact is religious controversy fails to die down in India. Close on the heels of the Prophet Mohammad controversy, the Kaali controversy is raging now in India. At the center of this controversy is the poster of the documentary film Kaali, where a woman is dressed as the Hindu goddess Kaali and is seen smoking a cigarette and holding a Trishul in one hand and a Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) flag in the other.

The Madurai-born, Toronto-based filmmaker Leena Manimekalai posted a tweet about her documentary film ‘Kaali’ and shared the poster of her movie. In her tweet, she said; “Super thrilled to share the launch of my recent film at Aga Khan Museum as part of its ‘Rhythms of Canada Film Festival and I am excited about it”…

This poster created a huge buzz on social media and invited a backlash in India. This led Indian High Commission in Canada to urge the Canadian authorities to withdraw the poster that was showcased as part of the ‘Under the Tent’ project at the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto. The museum authorities deeply regretted the disrespectful depiction of Hindu Gods and said if it inadvertently causes offense to the Hindu faith it can immediately withdraw the poster.

The micro-blogging site, Twitter also removed the poster saying that the tweet from Ms. Manimekalai has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand.

Ms. Manimekalai, reacting to Twitter removing her film’s poster, asked if Twitter would also withhold the tweets of the hate mongers as well. “This is hilarious. Will Twitter withhold the tweets of the 200000 hate mongers? These lowlife trolls tweeted and spread the very same poster that they find objectionable. 

“Kaali cannot be lynched. Kaali cannot be raped. Kaali cannot be destroyed. She is the goddess of death,” Manimekalai tweeted on the micro-blogging site.

Back in India, the religious outrage was vented through scores of complaints in the police stations, seeking Manimekalai's arrest. A large number of complaints were filed for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. The complainants said the Manimekalai’s poster depicts Goddess Kaali in a manner “unacceptable by any Hindu” and that it was a “deliberate distortion of the Hindu religion and culture with malicious intent to insult Hindu religious feelings”.

Jumping into the controversy was TMC MP Mohua Moitra who reportedly said that she had every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting deity, as each person had his or her unique way of offering prayers.

This led to another round of outrage against the TMC MP. No less than 56 complaints were filed against Moitra in West Bengal alone, seeking her immediate arrest. Suvendu Adhikari the BJP and leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly said, “The TMC government and the state police have been very active in seeking police action against Nupur Sharma, but they have not taken any action against Mahua Moitra and there can’t be a different set of rules for BJP and TMC leaders.”

Meanwhile, some FIRs were filed against Ms. Moitra in Madhya Pradesh, a BJP-ruled state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Hindu religious sentiments have been hurt by Mahua Moitra’s statement and insult of Hindu deities will not be tolerated at any cost.”

Ms. Mahua Moitra facing attacks from the BJP reacted, “truth doesn’t need backup forces, I am a worshipper of Kaali, and not afraid of saffron “goons.”  The ruling TMC distanced itself from Ms. Moitra’s comments, even as the controversy rages on.

Another angle of the Kaali controversy that has emerged is a contest between the people who worship Kaali as straight nosed, thin-lipped,  baby-faced, fair-complexioned deity against those who worship her with darker skin tone, broad nose with the world view of Kaali as a raw, non-apologetic, having an identity of her own kind of deity.

The Kaali poster outraged the feelings mostly in the North Indian states calling it blasphemous and hurting religious sentiments. Those who worship Kaali as a baby-faced, calm goddess do not like the worshiper of the same goddesses who smoke a cigarette, love booze, drink blood and eat meat and epitomize Maha Kaali in every sense. The north-South divide is the subtle theme in the Kaali controversy that is raging on in the country.

This bizarre narrative is going on in tandem with an anti-Muslim diatribe in India. While on one hand, some Indians want to teach Muslims a lesson or two, the same folks want to do the same to the South Indians too.  This is new India, the “Post-Truth India – The Brand New Republic” welcoming you on board.  

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. His forthcoming book is “Post-Truth India – The Brand New Republic.” He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com. 

 

The world must stop Hindu fascism in India - Ajit Sahi

 

The world must stop Hindu fascism in India - Ajit Sahi

Syed Ali Mujtaba

Meet Ajit Sahi a veteran journalist, and civil rights activist who works as an Advocacy Director at the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and is currently based in the US.

Earlier Ajit worked as the executive editor of Tehelka weekly, where he was a political and investigative journalist. Apart from being a veteran journalist, Ajit is a dedicated campaigner for civil liberties, human rights, and religious freedom in India for over three decades.

Ajit Sahi recently received the first Swami Agnivesh Memorial Award for his fearless commitment to human rights and for continuing the legacy of the noble soul who fought for justice for all.

While receiving the award at the virtual event on December 18, 2021,  Sahi said, “(Swami Agnivesh) was a giant. People like him inspired hundreds of thousands in my generation and I hope that he’ll continue to inspire many more.”

The most interesting aspect of Ajit Sahi’s personality is being a Hindu; he tirelessly works for the rights of Muslims of India. He has dedicated himself to protecting the plural values of Indian society. He is rooted in the values of the Hindu faith and opposes the Hindu supremacist ideology propagated by the RSS.

Sahi had testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress and “spoken boldly about human rights violations in India.”

Recently, Ajit Shai delivered a powerful speech at ICNA-MAS Convention where he openly spoke against the RSS and its toxic ideology called Hindutva. 

Here is his speech that gives a glimpse of his commitment to be the voice of the Indian Muslims.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g84bc7eE-s

 

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

 

 

Hindu – Muslim Relation has reached the Tipping Point

 Hindu – Muslim Relation has reached the Tipping Point

Syed Ali Mujtaba

Hindu – Muslim relations have reached a tipping point in India. This has happened under the BJP rule where a series of anti-Muslim events is witnessed to convert the Indian political scene into an 80 vs 20 format to consolidate the Hindu majority by vilification of Muslim minority on 24x7 bases.   

There has been a series of events that have followed since 2014 and to count a few are lynching of the Muslims by the cow vigilant, citizenship amendment act, Tablighi Jamat and Corona connect, Delhi riots, ‘Dharma Sansads’, Hijab, Halal, Azan, Gyanwapi mosque,  blasphemous remarks against the prophet, bulldozing of Muslim protestors homes, are all sordid tales in the dipping Hindu – Muslim relations in India.     

How did this situation emerge?

All these situations have emerged in the backdrop of three broad phases to cover up the crisis of governance that is the hallmark of the BJP rule. The starting point was the t demonetization of the currency on Nov 8, 2016. This knocked the bottom out of the economy and its cascading effect was felt in every sphere of activity leaving India battered and bruised. The BJP government in order to cover its policy paralysis engaged in the politics of Hindu- Muslim polarization to cover up its wrongs. The government media its mouthpiece and tasked it to rationalize all the government actions no matter how much flawed they may be.   

Second is the landslide victory of the BJP in the General Elections 2019. Narendra Modi after winning the 2019 elections demolished the principle of federalism and pull down as many as nine elected state governments in the country. He devised a new relationship with Jammu and Kashmir abrogating article 370 and robed its statehood status by making it two union territories. He brought in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens and extracted the Ram Mandir judgment from the Supreme Court. The foremost thing that he did was to invoke the Hindu nationalist spirit among the youth by othering the Muslims. He did it to make India a Hindu Rastra.

The third thing under the BJP's rule is its mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister made a horrendous mess of the Covid 19 management. He put the Parliament in the freezer and took control of the situation to announce a total lockdown but when it created an unprecedented economic crisis, he delegated his responsibilities to the state governments. During the lockdown period, he froze the recruitment and this led to rising in the unemployment situation. He then brought in the farm laws and made amendments to the labor laws. The Chinese occupation of Indian territories was covered up by raising the nationalist ante and he kept playing the anti-Muslim card to cover up his failures. Muslims of India were pulverized under the bogey of Hindi – Hindu – Hindustan.  

After coming to power, Narendra Modi brought his own style of governance that cared a dam about democracy, pluralism, and rule of law. First, he stopped paying heed to the constitutional guarantee of equal citizenship. He stopped paying heed to the idea of pluralism and secularism. He started polarizing society on a majority and minority basis. He evolved the 80 vs 20 political formula. This politics of majoritarianism united the Hindus and ostracized the Muslims.

The Prime Minister by doing this subverted democracy, the constitution, principles of pluralism, and rule of law. In this 80-20 political paradigm, the BJP government was successful in making the Muslims the enemy of the nation. A plethora of anti -Muslim religious discrimination and persecution was started under the BJP rule that led to the dipping of Hindu-Muslim relations.     

The majoritarian political ideology of hating Muslims was implemented through legitimate means; enacting citizenship laws and using the state power to suppress the Muslim protestors. It was also implemented through the subversion of government agencies and allowing non-state actors to attack the helpless Muslims. The BJP leadership allowed the rogue elements to run riot and commit brutalities against Muslims. This has poisoned the social relationship and shaken the foundation of multicultural social formation in the country.  

All this happened because Muslims were the safest enemy of Hindus in India. Muslims' numerical minority, social, economic, and educationally backwardness, and their dependence on the Hindu community made them vulnerable homo-sapiens. The BJP government successfully pitted the 80 % majority population against the 15% minority population where the latter have no chance to win. It’s precise because this situation of the Muslim community makes them an attractive enemy of the Hindus.

 Narendra Modi has made Muslims a vanquished community who are at the mercy of the Hindu majority.  Muslims are reduced to punching bags whom all and sundry can flog anywhere on the streets as the Indian state has absolved its responsibility to protect them. Perhaps, this is the reason why there is such an easy consent and consensus for the making of the Hindu Rashtra. The pivot of Hindu Rastra is Muslims on whom all blame is rested for the wrongs in India. Literally, Muslims are made the national enemy and are being purged through genocidal means.  

Anti-Muslim politics over the years

India in the first two decades after Independence witnessed a glorious period of Hindu-Muslim relationship. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership saw to it that the country was steered under the principles of secularism, democratic values, and constitutionalism.

However, under Indira Gandhi’s rule, principles gave way to electoral politics. She adopted a dual policy toward the Muslims; one she cajoled Muslims with certain sops and acted as their messiah. On the other, she initiated anti- Muslims programs. Her reign is littered with communal riots in the country. Indra Gandhi reduced Muslims of India to be a Congress vote bank. She pretended to be their security provider but in reality butchered them through communal riots. Muslims even then rallied behind Congress as they thought it to be a better bet as their protector against the fascist BJP.

Indira’s son Rajiv Gandhi was a political novice. He was sucked into the vortex of vote bank politics. He innocently played into the hands of those who did the communal polarization of Hindus and Muslims. He appeased the Hindu community by opening the gates of Babari masjid and allowing the ‘Shilanayas’ ceremony to be performed for the construction of the Ram Mandir. Willy-nilly Rajiv Gandhi further pushed the anti-Muslim agenda of the Congress party.

Rajiv Gandhi’s successor Narshima Rao presided over the demolition of the Babari mosque and with that, he eroded the myth of Muslims being equal citizens of the country.

It was on the anti-Muslim platform that was built by L.K Advani’s Rath Yathra that the BJP gained power with Atal Behari Vajpayee becoming the PM of the country. Since Vajpayee headed a coalition government, he could not push the anti-Muslim agenda of the BJP or initiate the Hindu Rastra agenda. However, his unsavory comments made against the Muslims in Goa in 2002 remain etched in the memory. PM Manmohan Singh who succeeded Vajpayee tried to hold the communal balance at the center even though the six of 6 worst communal riots took place under his UPA rule.  Aligarh riots in 2006, Dhule riots in  2008, Deganga riots in 2010, Bharatpur riots in 2011, Assam riots in 2012, and Muzzafarnagar riots in 2013, to name a few.  

Hindu – Muslim relations under Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi has changed the entire social structure of the Hindu- Muslim relationship since 2014 when he first came to power. His anti-Muslim divisive agenda in the pursuit of Hindu Rashtra turned the Hindu-Muslim relationship where each passing day, it’s deteriorating at a breakneck speed taking it to the point of no return. Under Modi's rule, the anti-Muslim mobilization drive has now been organically getting embedded into the grass-root level. It has acquired a momentum of its own and has relatively become free of government control. This was seen at the outbreak of communal riots in multiple laces during Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in 2022.

The credit goes to the Modi government that the world is talking about today about the genocide of the Muslims in India. Under Modi's rule, the anti-Muslim vigilantes have become autonomous centers of power. The Modi rule has given them freehand to the Hindu radicalized gangs who are masquerading as nationalists and patriots having the license to kill the Muslims.

It is to the credit of the BJP government that it has made the opposition political parties, bureaucracy, media, civil society events judiciary literally impotent characters. Either they are too scared of the BJP government or they are sucked into Hindutva politics that they have lost the will and inclination to uphold the rule of law and to protect the Muslims.  

In such a situation, what the Muslim should do to salvage the tipping Hindu-Muslim relations.  The choice before them is to concede to fall on the feet of the Hindus and stop fighting for constitutional rights and redefine a new  relationship in the context of ‘Hindu Rashrata.’  The other option is to resist BJP’s designs and bear the brunt of being demonized, pulverized, and dehumanized and wait for ‘Ache Din.’

It is certain that the BJP government cannot push its anti-Muslim agenda beyond a certain point. The BJP knows that if they continue to do so they will be pushing India into large-scale violence and societal chaos that may have a repelling effect.  

The anti-Muslim fire lit by the BJP currently has spilled over to the unemployed youth of the country. Their collective anger that recently chanted the war cry of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ against the Muslims has now changed to ‘Bharat Matta Ki Jai’ directed against the BJP.  The unemployed youth are so annoyed by the Agnipath scheme of the BJP that the government is finding it hard to control.  

The anti-Muslim agenda of Narinder Modi to consolidate the Hindu vote bank has reduced India into a ship on fire in the mid-ocean with ammunition on board.         Undoubtedly the Hindu – Muslim relationship has reached the tipping point under the BJP rule.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

 

Assam CM attempting to check the Muslim growth rate in the State

 

Assam CM attempting to check the Muslim growth rate in the State   By Syed Ali Mujtaba

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is beset with the problem to control the Muslim population growth rate in the state. He has constituted seven sub-committees in July 2021 asking them to recommend ways and means to address the issue of the growing Muslim population in Assam. The report is submitted to the Chief Minister on Friday, April 22, 2022

The sub-committees while preparing the report have deliberated on the issues like health, education, skill development, preservation of cultural identity, financial inclusion, and empowerment of women to control the growth of the Muslim population in Assam.  

Assam Chief Minister after receiving the recommendations made by the panels said that his government would formulate short, medium, and long terms plan to control population growth among the Muslim community.

The Assam Chief Minister had earlier held several interactive meetings with intellectuals and prominent citizens belonging to the Muslim community where he reportedly told them that the high population growth among Muslims has caused poverty and illiteracy in the community. He appealed to the community leaders to adhere to the population policy with a two-child norm and take family planning measures to check the population growth among Muslims. 

According to the 2001 and 2011 Census, the Muslim population is growing at a rate of 29 percent (decadal). In contrast, the Hindu population has come down from 22 percent to 16 percent and has further reduced to 10 percent during the latest censuses.

Muslims comprise 34.22 percent of the 3.12 crore population of Assam, of which 4 percent are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the remaining are mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims.

The number game of democracy is playing out against the BJP’s Hindutva politics.  The saffron party is finding it hard to maintain its ascendency in the state due to the growth of the Muslim population in Assam.

Muslim voters are determining factor in at least 30 to 35 seats out total of 126 Assembly seats of Assam. Out of 34 districts in Assam, in 6 districts the Muslim population is 50 percent or more. In another 19 districts, the Muslim population is 12 percent or more. So in 25 out of 34 districts in Assam Muslims are electorally significant.

However, this has become a problem for the BJP, because democracy is a number game and in this game, BJP is losing out decisively.

In order to address the problem, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma constituted seven committees to recommend government-specific policies and measures to decelerate the growth of the Muslim population in Assam.

The Assam Chief Minister has taken the plea that his aim is to eradicate poverty and illiteracy among the Muslim community and he wants to accelerate the socio-economic and academic empowerment of the Muslim community, but the actual intention is to trim the Muslim population’s growth rate.   He wants to create an even playfield so that the Hindu vote bank can have an ascendency over the Muslim population in the state.

As Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defines Assamese nationalism in Hindu terms, his pitch to check the growth rate of the Muslims, is seen as an attempt to amplify his rhetoric.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

LOST CULTURE - WESTERN PUNJAB’S IMPRINTS ON DISTRICT SHIEKHPURA OF BIHAR

LOST CULTURE -  WESTERN PUNJAB’S IMPRINTS ON DISTRICT SHIEKHPURA OF BIHAR

 SYED ALI MUJTABA

 

I am a native of village Maanay, Panchayat – Chakandra, Block Chewara. I am trying to develop a linguistic theory based on the spoken native words that have huge Punjabi imprints in the lingua franca in my native place called Shiekhpura, a district of Bihar in India.  

 

The evidence so far I have collected is as follows.  

1-    There is district Shekhupura in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Here we have a district with the name but with a little tongue twist called Shiekhpura district in Bihar.

There are several names of the villages that are carbon copies of the names that exist today on the other side of the border in the Pakistani territory.

 

i)                   There is Chakdara Fort in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. We have a village called Chakandara in the Shiekhpura district in Bihar.

ii)                 Pind means village in Punjabi - we have a village with the same name called Pind in the Shiekhpura district of Bihar.

iii)               Bilo means a beautiful girl in Punjabi – There is a village called Bilo in the Shiekhpura district of Bihar.

iv)               Khande means corner in Punjabi - There is a village named Khande, in Shiekhpura district in Bihar

 

There are a lot of colloquial words which are actually Punjabi in origin but are commonly spoken as a lingua franca in the Shiekhpura district in Bihar.

i)                   Gal bat – is a Punjabi word which means talk in Shiekhpra in Bihar it means doing talking or some common talk

ii)                 Boot-roo – This is a Punjabi word or Persian word that means like an idol – This has come to mean any infant in Shiekhpura district in Bihar.

3- Kubela – This is a Punjabi word meaning ‘evening.’ This has come to mean late evening in Shiekhpura district in Bihar

 

There are other linguistic other similar comparisons that I am working on to develop my study. I will be glad if anyone can add input to my study. This will definitely add to developing my thoughts further.

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Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba is a Professor at Guru Nanak College in Chennai, India.  He comes from the village Maanay, District Shiekhpura Bihar. He has grown up in South Delhi in the Punjabi locality and has a smattering knowledge of the Punjabi language.  He is trying to develop a comparative study based on his linguistic grip of two different places. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com 

A Hijabi girl winning 16 medals proves a point to anti-Hijab forces in India

 

A Hijabi girl winning 16 medals proves a point to anti-Hijab forces in India 

Syed Ali Mujtaba

A girl with Hijab bags 16 gold medals in studies gives a bold reply to all those who are for its ‘ban’ in the educational institutions of the country. 

Meet Hijabi Bushra Mateen, a 22-year-old civil engineering graduate from SLN College of Engineering, Raichur, who has bagged 16 gold medals, at the 21st annual convocation of Visvesvaraya Technological University, on March 10. She has secured a grade of 9.47 out of 10, in her studies donning a headscarf all her life.

Bushra Mateen won first place in 16 different categories, the highest by a single student from VTU University.  The tally includes the VTU gold medal for the topper as well as other endowment medals.

Bushra created a record of sorts in the history of VTU because to date the maximum number of gold medals won by a single student was 13. 

At the event, Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla delivered the convocation speech. Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot presided over the function. Minister of Higher Education Dr. CN Aswathanarayan was the Chief Guest of the event.

Bushra received her early education at St. Mary’s Convent School, Raichur, and completed her pre-university at Pramana PU College, Raichur.  She got over 90% marks in all her exams.

Bushra Mateen’s father, Sheikh Zaheeruddin, is a government civil engineer and her mother is a bachelor in arts.  

Bushra’s father who was present on the occasion said “Bushra was good at studying since childhood and she has worked hard for her studies. We are all very proud that she has got the fruits of her labor.”

Bushra’s mother gave a piece of advice on the necessity to educate girls for the development of the nation. “It is extremely important for women to get educated. They should be empowered to make their own decisions. And education is the most important way to do that,” she said.

Bushra's future goal is to appear for the UPSC Civil Services exam for which she has already started preparing from November 2021.

  “When I started with the course, I wanted to work for the government as that is the best place to work as a civil engineer but later, I realized I wanted to go for UPSC as it provides a bigger canvas to serve the country, she said. 

Bushra Mateen uses Hijab since her childhood and says the headscarf has never come in the way of her studies. “Hijab is my choice and fundamental and constitutional right. It has never come in my way to achieve my target nor has any non-Muslim ever objected to it. I have never faced any problem right from my school days to college because of wearing Hijab,” she said.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist. He can be contacted at syedalimjtaba2007@gmail.com 

'Bulli Bai' App Case - Advent of Cyber Hindu Jihadist in India

 'Bulli Bai' App Case - Advent of Cyber Hindu Jihadist in India

Syed Ali Mujtaba

The arrests made in the 'Bulli Bai' app case by the cyber branch police from Mumbai and Delhi suggest the existence of Hindu Cyber Jihadists in India. It is now common wisdom that the Hindutva brigade has created a cyber-ecosystem in the country that can pose an internal security threat to the country. Those arrested in the 'Bulli Bai' app case are; Shweta Singh (19) from Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand, Mayank Rawat (21) from Kotdwar in Uttarakhand, Vishal Kumar Jha (21) from Bengaluru, Niraj Bishnoi, of Jorhat Assam, and Aumkareshwar Thakur from Indore. 

While Shweta Singh is an aspiring engineering student, Mayank Rawat is a Chemistry honors student from Zakir Hussain College Delhi, Vishal Kumar Jha is an engineering student in Bengaluru, Niraj Bishnoi is a second-year B.Tech student from VIT Bhopal, and Aumkareshwar Thakur holds a Bachelor of Computer Application degree.

It was found during the course of the investigation that all these young tech-savvy youth knew each other and worked on the instructions for someone who is based in Nepal.  The common interests of all are they are motivated by Hindutva ideology. All are fired with the zeal to make India a Hindu Rashtra, a la Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

This bunch of young folks created an app called the 'Bulli Bai' app where they uploaded photographs of Muslim women mostly social activists and posted them on the GitHub platform on 'auction'. Bulli Bai is a derogatory Hindi slang used by right-wing Hindu trolls for Muslim women.

 These cyber Jihadists targeted Muslim women who were vocal about the rising tide of Hindutva in India.  Among those listed for 'auction' are prominent Muslim journalists, activists’ lawyers, and public figures. Many among them were active in the anti CAA protests that rocked the country in 2020.

A 2018 Amnesty International report has said that ‘online harassment in India has shown that the more vocal a woman was, the more likely she was to be targeted - the scale of this increased for women from religious minorities.’

The most disgusting aspect of this gory crime was that even Najeeb’s mother was listed in the 'Bulli Bai' auction.  Najeeb was a JNU student who disappeared from the campus during Kaniya Kumar’s ‘Azadi’ agitation. It is widely believed he has been murdered by the right-wing Hindu activists on campus.      

This is the second attempt by cyber Jihadists to harass Muslim women by "auctioning" them online. In July 2021, an app and website called "Sulli Deals" were created with profiles of more than 80 Muslim women, using their photos describing them as "deals of the day" online.  Sulli is also a pejorative term used for Muslim women by Hindutva extremists. Then the Delhi Police had registered a case against some unknown persons but made no arrests in the case probably because their hands were tied due to political pressure from above.

In the 'Bulli Bai' app case there was no actual 'auction' or 'sale' that happened but the purpose was to humiliate the Muslim women for being vocal protestors and also to intimidate some 20 crores Muslim population in India and to cow them in submission.  

These are two undercurrent themes in the arrests made in the 'Bulli Bai' app case. First is there is an organized racket that exists in India comprising of cyber foot soldiers of Hindutva working for the creation of Hindu Rashtra, and the second is to intimidate and humiliate the Muslim population in India.

The Bulli app and Sulli app is a well-planned project with a vast operational network where public and private actors are involved for a common goal to create Hindu Rashtra in India. The operational structure of this network is to use the cyber troops to manipulate public discourse, harass and intimidate independent voices, and unleash a reign of terror through cyberbullying and thus creating a partisan information environment in India.

These Cyber Jihadists are not bothered about the broader implications of their activity on the public discourse in India nor do they care about the sanctity of the country’s democratic processes because they are guided by some vested interests whose objective is creating a Hindu India.   

These ideological enriched cyber creatures want to use the power of the internet to have their way in the making of the brand new republic. The few arrests that have been made so far, in this case, could be just the tip of the iceberg and many more sleeping cells could be in place waiting for the instructions to lunch another defamatory app.      

It is common knowledge that the BJP IT Cell has a team of core members who guide some 20,000 cyber troops to automate hate and manipulate public perceptions across major social media platforms in India. The top echelon creates exclusive content which is well planned and thought out to impact the target and then it's shared to the cyber troop to carry out the activities on different internet platforms.

It is public knowledge that the BJP IT cell core team comprises about 150 members who are paid a very high and those belonging to the cyber troop are salary are ideologically committed folks working on hourly wages.  

An investigation has found that the “Tek Fog” App is used by the operatives of the BJP IT cell. This is the most potent weapon to harass the critics and intimidate them. This app is the brainchild of a devilish and diabolic mindset.  The folks working on this project enjoy the state patronage and are on a mission to create social disharmony in the country.   

Thanks to the political resolve of the Shiv Sena government that it gave the ‘go ahead’ signal to the Mumbai police cybercrime branch to tackle this case. The Delhi police cyber branch that has been sleeping over the Sulli app case too became active this time.  Both did a swift operation to nab the culprits in no time.

The cyber branch police first found out the IP addresses of the devices from which the pictures were uploaded on the app and through the IP addresses, they found the locations of the culprits. Accordingly, they sent the police team to a different location, and with the help of GPS and IP addresses, they nabbed the culprits.

When police arrested Vishal Kumar Jha from Bengaluru, he informed about Shweta Singh from Uttrakhand, who revealed Mayank Rawat’s name, and in this way, all the culprits were nabbed because they were in touch with each other and made the job easy for the police. While making these arrests the police made it public that there could be many more people involved in the case and those arrested were just the tip of the iceberg.  

 The message from the cybercrime branch of police was those who believe in the anonymity that the internet provides them are misplaced. They must know that once the resolve to get them is firmed up, it’s very easy to catch them from whichever device they are using for the crime.

As one watches the spectacle of the 'Bulli Bai' app case, one thing that emerges clearly is that all the arrests made are from the BJP ruled states. Karnataka, Uttrakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, all are BJP ruled states.   So patronage from the state double engine government cannot be ruled out to do such activity. 

The ongoing profiling of the Muslims by the Hindutva Jihadists is also an indicator of a skillful campaign scripted by the master strategists in the well-organized IT cell. It’s from there planning of such campaign is designed and the cyber troops are instructed to carry out the hate campaign in a well-orchestrated manner.

It is also seen that under the current political dispensation at the center the hate factories are in full bloom. The hate propaganda, disinformation campaign is part of a well-crafted state policy going on since 2014 to polarize the society. It’s seen that one campaign ends the other is ready for circulation.  The entire purpose of such a campaign is to build hatred against the Muslims in India so that Hindus can be united as a vote bank to perpetuate the BJP rule in the country.   

 The Muslim community has no clue how to counter these hate mongers. They expect the government, the police, the court, the political parties to come to their rescue but their wishes seldom get fulfilled. As a result, they suffer vilification, intimidation, a humiliation in silence. The evildoers through the Bulli app and Sulli app are carrying on their hate campaign.  

There is an urgent need to engage conscious people in India to raise awareness about such evil practices going on in the country. The idea of making a counter-strategy to combat such evil designs can only be successful if like-minded people come together for such a specific purpose. The hate factories in India can only be silenced if professionals, technical persons, visionaries take part in this battle of cyber warfare. Only positive spirits of India who want moderation, toleration, and peaceful co-existence can uphold the true spirit of the country.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com