By Matters India Report
Hyderabad, Jan 4, 2021: The Human Rights Forum that works in the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has expressed solidarity with the Muslim women who have been targeted in a recent fake online auction site ‘Bulli Bai’ and put up “for sale’ to the highest bidder.
“More than a hundred Muslim women, mostly activists, journalists and lawyers, have been targeted in the most revolting manner,” says a press release from the forum.
Among those targeted is an activist and a Journalist from Hyderabad, capital of Telangana. “This is organized pursuing by right-wing trolls of outspoken Muslim women, centered on their gender and religion, to silence them,” bemoans the forum.
The app was hosted on the GitHub platform and was taken down by them only after social media outrage, the forum point out.
“It is pertinent to recall that a similar app, ‘Sulli Deals,’ surfaced in July 2021 and was taken down only after several weeks. Despite FIRs being lodged, the police failed to act against the culprits on that occasion,” the forum bemoans.
The forum alleges that the “perpetrators of this virtual bullying and violent misogyny are clearly bolstered by the impunity that the ruling establishment at the Centre affords them.”
It further explains that the titles of the apps are intended as a disparaging reference to Muslim women.
“We believe the purpose of this hideous online sexual violence is to humiliate, intimidate and badger the women Into silence. These virtual auctions reflect how our digital ecosystem reeks of Islamophobia, denigration of Muslim women and plain bigotry,” it adds.
Terming the “level of depravity” as “truly shocking,” the forum urges the authorities concerned to “diligently and expeditiously pursue investigation against the purveyors of these degenerate hate crimes and ensure that they are prosecuted.”
The forum also calls on digital spaces such as GitHub to ensure that their platforms are not used for targeted harassment.
The forum was formed in October 1998 by activists who realized that violation or denial of rights arises in all situations of structured oppression and inequality and the democratic aspirations arising from all such situations. They also understood that resistance to such oppression, whether organized or not, whether collective or isolated, is equally important for the rights movement: theoretically, practically and organizationally.