Hiba Bég, a graduate student in the
US was visiting the
grave of her grandmother in New Delhi over the weekend when she learned that
she was “for sale” to the highest bidder online — for a second time in less
than a year.
اضافة اعلان
Her screen filled with dozens of calls and messages from
friends, all sharing the same screenshot of the profile created of her on the
app, a fake auction site called “Bulli Bai.” Bég, a former journalist with an
active online presence, wasn’t alone. More than 100 other prominent Indian
Muslim women, including artists, journalists, activists, and lawyers, found
that online images of themselves were being used without permission on the app,
which went up Saturday and was taken down again within about 24 hours.
In June a similar app, called “Sulli Deals,” appeared. (Both
terms are derogatory slang for
Muslim women.) That one remained up for weeks
and was taken down only after complaints from victims. Though the police opened
an investigation, no one has been charged in that case.
India’s online space is rife with misogyny and harassment of
women. But the two “auctions” have amplified concern about the organized nature
of the virtual bullying, and how targeted smears and threats of violence,
particularly sexual violence, are deployed to try to silence women, especially
those critical of some of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s policies.
“The intimidation is aimed at forcing Muslim women who raise
their voices against the injustice to withdraw from public life,” said Bég, 26,
who is pursuing a graduate degree at Columbia University. “But you don’t back
off, even if everything gets overwhelming.”
Muslim women were at the forefront of one of India’s largest
protest movements in recent decades. In early 2020, before the coronavirus
pandemic began in India, thousands blocked roads and held demonstrations in
protest of a new citizenship law that was seen as prejudiced against Muslims.
Women featured in the “auction” included Fatima Nafees, the
mother of a student activist who disappeared more than five years ago after a
fight with members of a right-wing student organization; a film star turned
social activist, a researcher, and several other prominent Muslim women.
Both the app that went up in June and the more recent one were
hosted by GitHub, a Microsoft-owned open software development site based in San
Francisco. On Sunday, India’s federal minister for communications, Ashwini
Vaishnaw, said that GitHub had blocked the user behind the recent app. GitHub
has not commented publicly on the episode.
Karti Chidambaram, a member of
India’s parliament and a leader
of the opposition Congress party, wrote on Twitter that he was appalled that
those responsible apparently felt emboldened because of the government’s lack
of action on the previous auction.
“It is unacceptable that this project of dangerous anti-Muslim
misogyny is back,” he said.
On Monday, the police in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh
said they had opened an investigation and filed a criminal complaint against
several Twitter handles and developers of the app, based on the complaint of a
Muslim woman.
But many complaints said the lack of progress on the previous
investigations had inspired little confidence.
For years, Bég, has been a vocal critic of India’s governing
Hindu nationalists and their anti-minority policies under Modi. She has faced
intense internet trolling, including death threats, on Twitter.
Over the years, as the pressure has intensified, she said, she
started self-censoring, avoiding critical posts on the policies of the
Hindu nationalists.
She said she had been worried about the rising intolerance, but
the latest episode showcased how the online machinery was being used to make
vocal Muslim women withdraw from public life, essentially eliminating any
counternarrative.
Hasiba Amin, a social media coordinator of the opposition
Congress party, who was also featured on the auction app, says the fact that
the violence and death threats against minorities online have recently gone
beyond virtual is what keeps her awake.
“What guarantees do we have from the government that tomorrow
the threats and intimidation online is not going to turn into the real-time
sexual violence on the streets?” she asked.
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