Yet within the prison walls, Gul has carved her resistance in verses. Her poetry—tender, defiant, searing—brings to life the emotional toll of incarceration and the enduring strength of a political prisoner. Her words, scribbled in captivity, travel far beyond the bars, echoing through classrooms, protests, and social media feeds, carried by those who refuse to let her be silenced.

The Free Gulfisha Campaign this April 2025 is not merely a show of solidarity—it is a collective cry for justice. From April 9 to April 16, people are being called upon to read her poems aloud, post them on social media, organise readings in homes and classrooms, and remind the world that Gul’s voice cannot be smothered by concrete walls.

In Forgetting, she writes with aching clarity:

“I forget now almost– everything
but remember only the dates”

What she once forgot in history exams—dates—have now become haunting markers of delay, denial, and abandonment. Court dates, bail hearings, the passing of time—each one a reminder of a state that refuses to hear her.

In These walls around me, she personifies her prison cell:

“Finally! one day, these burdened walls collapse
and erected in their place are new silenced walls”

It is a poem of quiet devastation—a recognition of how the system silences resistance, again and again, by replacing the broken with the mute, and the rebellious with the subjugated.

Her poetry is not just about her pain. It is about love, longing, and refusal. In My love, she writes of an internal duality: one heart yearning for closeness, the other forced to reject even the memory of it. In Listen Faiz, she speaks to the legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, connecting her solitary wait with his own in prison:

“The difference between
Your wait and mine
Is just
The appointed time”

Every line is a thread tying her to the tradition of poets and political prisoners whose words outlive their bars.

Gulfisha’s case is a microcosm of a larger cruelty—the systematic criminalisation of dissent, the silencing of Muslim voices, and the state’s weaponisation of law. She was targeted not just because she protested, but because she was articulate, educated, fearless—a young Muslim woman who would not bow.

As she wrote in In the darkness of last night:

“the tears of fragile rain…
raised an uproar of complaints
…the oppressed remained
in the darkness of last night…”

Because remembering Gul is not just an act of solidarity—it is an act of resistance against a system that feeds on silence.

Related:

MBA graduate and activist, Gulfisha Fatima awaits justice

More than 1100 days in prison: Gulfisha Fatima awaits bail

Delhi Violence: Court dismisses Gulfisha Fatima, Tasleem Ahmed’s bail pleas

Delhi Violence case: Gulfisha Fatima completes 18 months of incarceration

Delhi violence: Jailed activist Gulfisha Fatima accuses Delhi Police of diversionary tactics

Gulfisha Fatima alleges harassment, court asks jail to change staff if needed

The post “Par yaad rehti bas tareekh”: Five years of Gul’s un-freedom appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Ten of these places are located in Haridwar district, four in Dehradun, two in Nainital and one in Udham Singh Nagar. Aurangzebpur in Haridwar has been renamed Shivaji Nagar, Ghaziwali as Arya Nagar, Khanpur as Shri Krishnapur and Khanpur Kursali as Ambedkar Nagar.

Likewise, Miyanwala in Dehradun will now be called Ramjiwala, Chandpur Khurd as Prithviraj Nagar, Nawabi Road in Nainital has a new name Atal Road and Panchukki Marg has been renamed Guru Golwalkar Marg after the second Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief.

“The changes have been made in accordance with the will of the people and per Indian culture and heritage of the country by honouring the great personalities,” claimed Dhami.

The Uttarakhand Chief Minister, who has launched a relentless anti-Muslim rhetoric even since he took over the reins in 2021, began with ‘Land Jehad’, ‘Love Jehad’, ‘Mazar Jehad’, ‘Thook Jehad’, implementation of the Uniform Civil Code ((UCC) and action against Madrassas.

Dhami is a young Hindutva icon of BJP-RSS who is credited with implementing the ‘Hindutva Gujarat Model’ in the hill state of Uttarakhand, reaping rich political dividends for this Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP officially lauded the state government for changing the names as part of the campaign to eradicate the “last vestiges of slavery.”

“Uttarakhand has announced the renaming of several locations across Haridwar, Dehradun, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts. The new names reflect public sentiment and uphold India’s cultural and historical heritage. This initiative seeks to honour great personalities who have played a significant role in preserving Indian culture, inspiring future generations,” BJP leader and its IT cell chief Amit Malviya posted on X.

Rajput Community Miffed?

Interestingly, in its zeal to erase any Muslim-sounding or lslamic names, Dhami has also changed the name of ‘Miyanwala’ village near Dehradun which has nothing to do with Muslims. It was a Rajput village. The renaming of their village is brewing resentment among the Rajput community, which has demanded that the state government should refrain from renaming their village. The ‘Miyans’ are a famous Rajput clan in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh hills, known for their military valour.

Jai Singh Rawat, a senior journalist in Uttarakhand, said the state government should look into history and not act blinded by their opposition of anything that sounds Muslim. “The ‘Miyans’ are famous Rajput clan and Miyanwala is their village. The BJP-RSS think-tanks should educate themselves before acting impulsively in their anti-Muslim campaign,” he told this reporter.

The writer is a freelancer based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post ‘Eid Gift’: Uttarakhand CM Dhami Renames17 Places With Muslim-Sounding Names appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As per a report of The Telegraph, the local traders’ association in Dharchula cancelled the registrations of 91 shops after a Muslim youth, who used to work at a barber shop, eloped with two girls to his home state of Uttar Pradesh. Referring to this incident, the memorandum states that only the person accused of the crime can be held responsible by the authorities, but under the guise of the incident, the whole community is being targeted.

Through the memorandum, the delegation also accused the local administration and state police of maintaining a mute stance while this “anti-Constitutional” exercise is being carried out in the state.

The full memorandum can be read here:

प्रति, महामहिम राज्यपाल महोदय,

उत्तराखंड शासन, देहरादून. द्वारा : श्रीमान जिलाधिकारी महोदय, पिथौरागढ़. 

महामहिम, पिथौरागढ़ जिले के सीमांत नगर- धारचुला में इन दिनों एक ऐसा अभियान चलाया जा रहा है, वो अपनी प्रवृत्ति में सांप्रदायिक घृणा से भरा हुआ और संविधान विरोधी है. महामहिम, धारचुला के व्यापार मंडल ने बाहरी बता कर उनकी दुकानें खोलने पर रोक लगा दी है, उन्हें दुकानें खाली करने को कह दिया गया है और व्यापार संघ में उनका पंजीकरण निरस्त कर दिया गया. इस अभियान के पूरे स्वरूप से स्पष्ट है कि इसके पीछे सांप्रदायिक ध्रुवीकरण की जहरीली राजनीति काम कर रही है. देश के किसी भी हिस्से में व्यापार- व्यवसाय करने की आज़ादी भारत का संविधान अपने हर नागरिक को देता है. कोई अपराध करे तो उसे सजा दिलाने का काम पुलिस और न्यायालय का है. जिस घटना की आड़ लेकर यह उन्मादी अभियान चलाया जा रहा है, उसमें पुलिस विधि सम्मत कार्यवाही कर चुका है. उसके बावजूद उन्मादी अभियान चलाना दर्शता है कि इसके पीछे मंतव्य कुछ और है. महामहिम, यह बेहद अफसोस की बात है कि एक सीमांत शहर में यह सांप्रदायिक कवायद लंबे अरसे से चल रही है और स्थानीय प्रशासन व पुलिस मूकदर्शक बने हुए हैं.लोकसभा चुनाव की आदर्श आचार संहिता लागू होने के बावजूद प्रशासन और पुलिस का इस मामले में चुप्पी साधे रहना गंभीर चिंता का विषय है. महामहिम, आप से निवेदन है कि तत्काल इस प्रकरण में हस्तक्षेप करते हुए अपने अधीनस्थों को निर्देशित करें कि धारचुला में बाहर बता कर बेदखल किये जा रहे व्यापारियों का उत्पीड़न रोका जाए और उन्हें संपूर्ण सुरक्षा प्रदान की जाए.

सधन्यवाद,

सहयोगाकांक्षी गोविंद कफलिया, जिला सचिव, भाकपा (माले), पिथौरागढ़. भगवान रावत पिथौरागढ़ जन मंच हेमंत खाती भाकपा (माले)

Selective targeting:

As per the Telegraph report, Mahesh Gabrayal, general secretary of the Dharchula Vyapar Mandal, has justified the aforementioned action based on the allegation of “them” luring their daughters. In the report, Gabrayal was quoted as saying, “The registrations of 91 shops were cancelled after consulting the local administration and their owners were asked to leave the area. Many of them have been luring our daughters.”

Gabrayal further provided that after the eloping incident took place, the association identified the shopkeepers that were doing their business illegally, and cancelled their registration. As per the report, Gabrayal said “A barber from Bareilly enticed two minor girls and took them away last month. Thereafter, we identified 91 shopkeepers who were doing business here illegally. They didn’t register with the Vyapar Mandal, which is mandatory in Uttarakhand.” Gabrayal further provided that the association had also decided to cancel the registration of all the traders who came here from other states before 2000.

It has been provided that all the 91 shopkeepers whose registration has been cancelled are from western Uttar Pradesh and belong to the Muslim community. It has been reported that the shopkeepers have been told by the association to immediately leave the area in view of the marches being organised by the “agitated residents” against the “illegal shops” on a daily basis.

“A total of 175 businessmen from the town have been identified so far. They all belong to western Uttar Pradesh. Local youths will be able to start businesses and earn a livelihood if we remove the outsiders from here,” Gabrayal stated, as per the Telegraph report.

Riyaz Ahmad, one of the shopkeepers whose registration has been cancelled, spoke to the Telegraph and deemed such selective targeting to be wrong. As per the report, Ahmad said that “Such an atrocity against traders from one particular community is wrong. All of them cannot be punished for the crime of one person. We don’t support the barber with whom the girls eloped. We have closed our shops but request the government to discuss the matter with the association and resolve it.”

It is also essential to note that a delegation of the affected traders also met with the administrative officials of Pithoragarh district, under which Dharchula falls, and urged them to intervene and ensure that the targeted Muslims are allowed to continue with their business.

With the regards to the same, Manjit Singh, sub-divisional magistrate of Dharchula, has assured that the issues raised by the delegation of shopkeepers will be discussed with the association. As per the report, Singh said that “We appeal to the people to maintain peace. The shopkeepers have raised some issues and we will discuss them with the leaders of their association soon.”

One a peaceful state, now a centre of communal disharmony:

The incident of selective targeting of the Muslim community in the state of Uttarakhand is not the first incident of communal disharmony reported from the state. While the aforementioned Dharchula, Pithoragarh incident is the most recent such incident, there is a consistent pattern of connivance with small groups terrorising Muslims as well as a state administration that targets Muslim properties. One must not forget the targeting and exodus of Muslims from the state of Uttarakhand in June last year, again under the guise of ‘love jihad’ being committed by Muslims. Even then, in Purola, the supposed conspiracy of ‘love jihad’ was given communal fire and was used as the pretext to terrorise Muslim shopkeepers and traders.

For a detailed coverage of the forced Muslim exodus from Purola, Uttarakhand, kindly refer here, here, here and here.

Communal tensions in Haldwani, Uttarakhand had flared up in the month February of 2024. On February 8, the Municipal office, accompanied by police presence, had demolished a Mosque and Madrasa in the Banbhoolpura area. As the demolition was takin place, incidents of stone pelted were reported. Communal violence of a major scale was the result. As per a fact-finding report, while official figures suggested that seven lives were lost in the violence, local residents from Banbhoolpura area feared that the toll would be as high as 18-20.

A detailed report on the violence can be read here.

Many allege that the aforementioned communal polarisation and targeting in Pithoragarh to be a political plank to polarise Hindu voters in the Almora parliamentary constituency, under which Pithoragarh falls. Notably, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami represents the adjoining Champawat seat in the Assembly. These recent incidents make Uttarakhand fit to be included in a case study of how a previously peaceful state – one that has essentially never seen violence or repression of this scale – can see consistently biased actions by a state administration and ruling party targeting its minority citizens.

Related:

Conspiracy or Coincidence? Mosques defaced in March after spate of hate speeches provoking the crime weeks before

Bodoland University’s cultural event reportedly displays Muslims as criminals escorted by police, student groups demand apology  

Haldwani Violence: Cautioning police against overreach CPI-M delegation demands independent inquiry

The post Uttarakhand: Registration of 91 Muslim shopkeepers cancelled; protest memorandum submitted by delegation of Jan Manch & CPI (ML) to DM, Pithoragarh, highlights selective targeting appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Among the accused are Shahabuddin, hailing from Chetrampur village in Moradabad district, Bajrang Dal leader Monu Bishnoi alias Sumit, and his volunteers Raman Chaudhary and Rajiv Chaudhary.According to the police, Shahabuddin took the help of the Bajrang Dal workers to put Maksud, against whom he had nursed vengeance, in jail by making it appear that he had slaughtered cows.

The police also told the media that on January 16 the head of a cow was recovered from Kanwar Path, a road that is mostly used by Hindu pilgrims during the Shravana month to go to religious sites such as Haridwar.“A case was registered against unknown people. After this, on the night of January 28, another incident of cow slaughter took place a few kilometres away in Chetrampur village (in the same police station area of the first incident). Both the incidents seemed suspicious and interconnected. Since the manner in which this information was given to the police, there was a suspicion that this incident was planned and it was not just a case of cow slaughter, there was definitely some hidden agenda in it,” said Hemraj Meena, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Moradabad, on Thursday.

He said in the second incident when the officers reached the spot, they found a man’s trousers and a wallet that had a photo of Maksud in it.

“When Maksud was interrogated, he told that he had enmity with some people in the village, due to which an attempt was made to implicate him. The names of Shahabuddin and Jamshed came up. These people took the help of Monu Bishnoi, Rajiv Chaudhary and Raman Chaudhary to send their opponent to jail,” Meena said.

“These people have been putting pressure on the police to get their illegal work done,” he said, while mentioning that only a few days ago Monu Bishnoi was arrested under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) case and sent to jail.

The SSP said that after coming out of jail, Bishnoi started his “illegal activities” to get things done from the police at Chhajlait station and when the officials did not listen to him, he created a trap through this incident.

“First they planned the January 14 incident in which they gave Rs 2,000 to Naeem, an associate of Shahabuddin, and told him to bring the head of the cow from somewhere and keep it in Chhajlait police station area, so that action will be taken against the police and the police come under their pressure. He told Shahabuddin and Jamshed to take the names of those with whom they had enmity. In order to do this, evidence was created by placing the photo of that person at the spot. These same people stole a cow from a house, slaughtered it and then informed the police,” added SSP Meena.

Officials also said that two accused are still absconding.

“The police have exposed the conspiracy on the basis of electronic surveillance, mobile location and other evidence. These are people with criminal tendencies and have been regularly putting pressure on the police,” said Meena.

The Moradabad police have registered two First Information Reports (FIRs) under IPC sections 120B (Criminal Conspiracy), 211 (False charge of offence made with intent to injure), 380 (Theft in dwelling house), 457 (house-trespass or house-breaking) and 411 (Dishonestly receiving stolen property) and section 3,5,8 of Cow Slaughter Act.

Related:

K’taka: Bail to cow vigilante, Puneeth Kerehalli, accused of killing Muslim man

Cow vigilantism casts its ugly shadow on Maharashtra

Cow vigilantism is an extortion bid say Haryana farmers

The post UP Bajrang Dal leader and 3 others arrested for slaughtering cows to falsely implicate a Muslim man appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to the analysis, fake news spreads misinformation about changing demography by implicitly showing that the Muslim population is fast-rising. The tone of media has been so anti-Muslim that 87 per cent of the fact-checked contents, out of 211 stories, were related to religious groups and it targeted Muslims.

Shockingly, the recent brute military exercise of Israel against the impoverished Palestinians was also used by the Indian media to spread anti-Muslim sentiments. Fake and doctored graphics and videos have been shown by the media to create an impression that Muslims are “violent” and they are a threat to “peace” and “democracy”. In several doctored videos, the beheading of the children and execution of the prisoners have been shown.

In other contexts, the media used videos imported from outside India to depict Indian Muslims. The aim was to malign the image of Muslims and create a ground for anti-Muslim sentiments. They all contributed to keeping the fire of the Islamophobic narrative aflame.

It is feared that India is emerging as one of the centres producing Islamophobic content. Even in some videos, the story of Rohingya Muslims was spread in which it was claimed that these Rohingya Muslims were pretending to be “Hindus”. But the Book Live fact check found the whole story misleading and malicious in its approach.

Those who have so far denied the prevalence of hate news and the rising Islamophobia in India, should seriously read Boom’s report. Not to talk of so-called communal media, even a large number of “reputed” mainstream media with wider reach have been found guilty of spreading hatred and misinformation about Muslims. Apart from these, they were in the habit of publishing content in favour of the establishment.

Even a pure matter of science and technology was used to spread hatred against Muslims. For example, when the Chandrayaan-3 satellite was successfully sent onto the moon, contents targeting Muslims were widely disseminated. Propaganda was made that Muslims were “anti-science”, “religious” and “fanatic” in outlook, which is responsible for their “backwardness”. It was also an occasion to question the “patriotism” of the Indian Muslims. For example, a fact-checked story of the Boom Live shows that fake news was spread in which the media showed Kashmiri students beating other students who were celebrating the success of Chandrayaan-3. However, the true story was that a fight among the students broke out over the issue of violating the queue in the university canteen at Mewar University and not over the satellite.

To sum up, the contents of the news stories analysed by Boom Live have again been found to be spreading misinformation, sensationalism, communalism, and anti-Muslim hatred. Such contents contribute to promoting Islamophobia.

To understand Islamophobic discourse, Jewish-born scholar Edward Said can be a great help. Former professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University and Palestinian Arab Edward Said wrote the path breaking book “Orientalism” (1978). In his work, he was right to argue that the Western media and knowledge system had been in the habit of misrepresenting Arab Muslims.

According to Said, the Western media distorted the reality of the Arabs. The Arab Muslims were shown to be “the perversion” of the people living in the West. According to the Western binary, Arab Muslims were shown to be “barbaric”, “fanatic”, “religious”, “cowardly”, “anti-modern”, and “anti-secular” while those living in the West were praised as “liberal”, “rational”, “scientific”, “brave”, and “modern”.

During the 1973 Arab-Israel war, Edward Said was shocked to see the way the Western media spread misinformation, sensationalism, and misinformation about Arab Muslims. Since he had a lived experience of growing up in the Arab region, he was not able to accept the images and stereotypes produced by the powerful Western media about Muslim Arabs.

This was the immediate context when Edward Said began seriously engaging with the question of the representation of Arab Muslims and the East in Western media and scholarship. Soon, he was able to give a concept of “Orientalism”, which, according to him, is a systematic way of misrepresenting and violating the reality, image, and whole history of the Occident by Western scholars.

Three years later in 1981, Said wrote another important book “Covering Islam”. The subtitle of the book is self-explanatory: “How the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world. Following the Iranian Revolution (1979), Said began to look deeply into the way the Western media covered the Arab and Islamic world. Soo Said concluded: “The coverage of Islam by the Western media is misleading and inaccurate, characterized by ethnocentrism, cultural and even racial hatred, deep yet paradoxically free-floating hostility” (ibid, p. li).

The framework that Edward Said gave to study the Arab and Muslim world, can be extended in India to explore how the Muslim minority is being misrepresented by Indian media. While the Orientalist discourse has projected the East as the “another” of the West, similarly the minority community is demonized as “alien” of the mainstream society by the communal media.

There is strong evidence to show that the communal discourse within India heavily borrows Orientalist tools. The communal media, like Orientalist discourse, is in the habit of creating a binary between the majority Hindu community and the minority Muslim community. It ignores history and presents a monolithic picture. It bypasses social and economic conflicts within cultural diversity.

Given the similarity, I would like to place before you the term “internal Orientalism” to explain the phenomenon of the misrepresentation of the minority within a nation-state. The content analysis of Boom Live over the years shows a persistent atmosphere of anti-Muslim discourse created and maintained by the Indian media and state-sponsored scholars.

Like the Orientalist discourse, internal Orientalist discourse creates a similar binary in India in which the majority Hindu community is shown to be “liberal”, “progressive”, “law-abiding”, “nationalist”, and “peace-loving”, while the minority Muslims are demonized as “backward”, “fanatic”, and “anti-national”, “violent”, “cruel”, “anti-women”, “lustful” and “untrustworthy”, who works as a burden for the nation. The concept of “internal Orientalism”, therefore, needs to be explored further to capture the rising anti-minority venom and launch a democratic struggle to counter it.

(The author is a Delhi-based journalist. He has taught political sciences at NCWEB Centres of Delhi University.)

The post The “Internal Orientalism” of Indian Media  appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A report recently revealed that two men used fake email addresses with the name of Zubair Khan and Alam Ansari and cited themselves as members of ISI who wanted to blow up the Ram Mandir in UP! The men were arrested on January 3, 2024, reports a story by Scroll.  The threat was reportedly issued by two men named Omprakash Mishra and Tahar Singh, who created fake mail IDs in the name of Muslims. The crime did not happen in isolation. While these imposters were arrested as the investigation received wide publicity on social media, detailed inquiries revealed that the culprit who conspired to this falsification plot was actually a right-wing man named Devendra Tiwari. Tiwari also runs an organisation called Bharatiya Kisan Manch and Bhartiya Gau Seva Parishad and calls himself a cow protector (Gau Rakshak). Furthermore, Tiwari is also seen to have posted his pictures with Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister (CM), Yogi Adityanath on social media.

According to The Observer Post, an official statement about Tiwari was released stating, “Devendra Tewari, who has several cases against him in Manak Nagar, Ashiyana, Banthra, Gautam Palli, and Alambagh police stations in Lucknow, had told the arrested men to post threats on social media. Tewari runs a college in the Alambagh area named Indian Institute Paramedical Sciences, and he has an office there.”

जिन दो आरोपियों ओमप्रकाश मिश्रा और तहर सिंह ने जुबैर खान और आलम अंसारी के नाम से फर्जी मेल आईडी बनाकर ISI का हवाला देते हुए राम मंदिर, मुख्य्मंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ और एसटीएफ चीफ अमिताभ यश को बम से उड़ाने की धमकी के मामले में गिरफ्तार किया गया था,

इनमें से एक तहर सिंह की काफी… pic.twitter.com/R5GNOWM7xR

— Adnan Miyan (@AdnanMiyan37546) January 4, 2024

This is not an isolated event. A disturbing trend has recently emerged where right-wing online users –with a free pass and impunity from the ruling regime dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — have been openly resorting to criminal activities and falsely trying to implicate Muslims in order to propagate their own hateful, political agenda. Various cases of people adopting false Muslim identities via online identities or adopting visible markers of Islam as a disguise to commit crimes have surfaced, leading to an alarming increase in Islamophobia in India. This article explores the dangerous modus operandi employed by these criminals and the grave repercussions of their actions, on the broader horizon of communal harmony. Sabrang India had earlier covered this article in November, 2023.

Several instances have also come to light where people have committed crimes and then have deliberately adopting a false Muslim identity to divert investigation and mislead authorities. These incidents include the case of Kanpur, where the husband of a tuition teacher reportedly killed a teenager who came to study at their place. The man, furthermore, falsely implicated the victim. He made use of religious phrases like “Allah hu Akbar” in a ransom letter in an order to divert the investigation. In another incident in Kerala, shockingly, an Indian Army soldier gave a false statement to the police, alleging an attack by a group of six people who painted the letters “PFI” on his back. PFI, Popular Front of India, is now an organisation that has been declared as illegal. The police in turn, upon discovery of the forgery, proceed to take the army man and his friend in custody for giving false statements to authorities.

Sabrang India’s November article highlighted these incidents. One particularly insidious incident was featured in the article from West Bengal, where individuals associated with the BJP engaged in stone-pelting during the Anti-CAA movement while wearing skull caps and lungi. However, it was soon discovered that these were actually people reportedly related to the BJP. Similar incidents have been found in Kanpur, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala as well. 

The role of the media

Experts have also raised concerns about how the media also amplifies focus on the identity of the accused or suspect in these cases if the suspected culprit is a Muslim. This is a measure that leads to intensifying Islamophobia in an already communally polarised environment. Even when the accused is not Muslim and is unknown, news outlets often try to pass the blame onto Muslims using larger Islamophobic tropes and thus further contribute to the stigmatisation of the entire community.

In the recent Kerala blasts case that took place at Jehovah’s Witness Thalamassary, Kochi on October 29, 2023, it was evident that the media was keen to portray the perpetrator as a Muslim – even after he released a confession. There seemed to be a decided intent to portray the blast as motivated by communal intentions. Right-wing trolls flocked the social media as if on cue to post about Muslims being the culprit despite the suspect having surrendered himself to the police.

Journalist and anchor Ravish Kumar also covered  these criminal trends online. Kumar says that when these incidents successfully hoodwink people into believing crimes are being committed by Muslims, it increases the hatred against Muslims in the general populace. Thus the deliberate attempt to implicate Muslims in crimes not only undermines the justice system but also poses a severe threat to communal harmony. The broader impact of these actions is the perpetuation of stereotypes, reinforcing negative perceptions about an entire religious community. This not only hampers social cohesion but also creates an environment where innocent individuals may face unwarranted backlash. Furthermore, the speed at which misinformation spreads in the digital age exacerbates the impact of these actions has the tendency to result in real-life consequences for individuals and communities. From these instances, it is evident that right-wing online users often leverage social media platforms and other online spaces to disseminate false information, hate speech, and propaganda.

The intentional manipulation of identities to frame the Muslim community for criminal acts by a leader of a Hindutva oriented organised is a puzzling and startling figure. One can assume that they further wish to polarise sentiment and continue their propaganda of Muslims being terrorists in the public image. Hindutva leaders continue to make hate speech decrying Muslims as terrorists and the need for Hindus to “awaken”, in some instances people are also enjoined to fight and take up arms against Muslims. Thus, these actions to defame Muslims seems to be another example of right-wing forces building conspiracies about the Muslim enemy, and takes a step forward to hoodwink the public by engineering these fake cases.

In all these cases, therefore, there seems to be an underlying assumption evident that it would be easy for people to be distracted from the actual culprits if they are provided with certain forged clues of Muslims being the perpetrators of the crime. People, it seems, who commit these crimes are well aware that Muslims are an easy target of suspicion as well as an easy target for hate as well.

In the age of fake news and fake criminals, this new trend bodes a worrying trend for social harmony in general and the lives and security of Muslims in particular.

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Attempts to give communal turn to blasts in Kerala unsuccessful, 3 cases filed by Kerala Police, CM Vijayan urges restraint & unity

The post Imposters posing as Muslims: A sinister ploy to further stigmatise appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As per a report of the Observer Post, in the early hours of December 20, Hindutva groups including Sri Rama Sene assembled outside the Siddheshwar Temple and raised calls for disallowing Muslims from putting up their stalls at the upcoming religious fair. The groups also stated that they will be submitting a memorandum to Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal regarding the issue.

The temple fair, organised every year on Makar Sankranti (January 14) for centuries, is attended by devotees majorly from North Karnataka and Maharashtra. In a bid to show visibility and majoritarian aggression, syncretic traditions around this observance are being made into a bone of contention. According to the report, Hindutva extremists have claimed that since Muslim vendors are not allowed to conduct business at Hindu temple premises and fairs in many parts of the state, the same norm should be followed during Siddeshwara Sankramana fair. These Hindutva groups also accused the Muslim community of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by indulging in activities such as “cow slaughter, beef consumption, Love Jihad, etc”, the observer post report provided. Justifying their economic boycott call against Muslims during the fair for these above cited reasons, the fringe elements also threatened to stage a protest in case their demand for banning Muslim vendors is not met with.

Persistent demands for economic boycott of Muslims during fairs- religious intolerance?

Over the past few years, under the governance of the BJP party, that was ousted from power in May 2023, the otherwise tolerant state of Karnataka saw the Muslim community being targeted by the Hindutva fringe elements on multiple occasions.

The calls for social and economic boycott of Muslims and the ban on Muslim vendors participating in temple fairs in Karnataka started at the height of the hijab controversy in the state. When the said ban on women wearing hijab in schools and colleges, imposed by a Government resolution, was upheld by the Karnataka High Court in the year 2022, the emboldened Hindutva groups stated emphasising on the exclusion of non-Hindus from engaging in any business within temple premises. This resulted in many shrines banning Muslim vendors from temple premises and temple fairs at the behest of Sangh parivar groups.

This year, in 2023, such instances of “demanding a ban of Muslim vendors during Hindu festivals” was not a lone, isolated incident. At the beginning of the 2023, banners put up by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal at the Kadri Sri Manjunatha temple fair that prohibited Muslims from conducting business activity near the temple were removed by the Mangaluru police. According to a report of the Hindustan Times, the police provided that only traders who believed in the rituals and ceremonies of the Hindu religion would be allowed to continue with their trade and business.

In the month of February, Hindustan Times also reported that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal submitted a memorandum to the Tumakuru district collector YS Patil demanding him to not to allow shopkeepers from “other religions” at the fair to be held at Gubbi Channabasaveshwara temple from February 25 to March 19, 2023. In their petition, the two Hindutva groups had warned of protests if traders from other religions were allowed to carry out business directly or indirectly on the premises of the temple or within 100-meter surrounding.

In April, reports emerged that Muslim traders would, for the second time, be barred from putting up stalls at the Bappanadu temple fair in Mulky in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. As per the report of the News Minute, the decision to exclude Muslim traders was taken by the temple committee after a memorandum by local residents called for the exclusion of Muslims. It is crucial to emphasise here that the Bappanadu fair not only attracted Hindus but also Muslim and Christian devotees

Again, in the month of August 2023, communal fires burnt high with the Karnataka Rajya Hindu Jaatra Vyaparasthara Sangha urging the government to not allow non-Hindus (Muslims) to set up shops during fairs or annual festivals of temples under the Endowment Department. As reported by the Deccan Herald, Sangha President Mahesh Das had stated that as under section 31 (12) of Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act no property including land, building or site situated near the temple should be leased to non-Hindus.

In the beginning of December 2023, Muslim Mirror reported that Muslims traders were allegedly debarred from installing their business units at a temple fair in Mangaluru city of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The report provided that during the stall allotment of the “Shahsthi Mahotsava” religious fair, scheduled between December 14 and 19 at the premises of the Kudupu Sri Anantha Padmanabha temple, Muslim traders approaching for stalls were reportedly denied permission. the report provided that even last year, Muslim traders were not allowed to set up their stalls.

Some positive instances of resisting the politics of boycott

In October of this year, the Mangaluru city police had booked Dakshina Kannada district Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) joint secretary Sharan Pumpwell after he and his followers planted saffron flags calling for a boycott of Muslim traders during festivals in Hindu temples in Karnataka. As per a report of Indian Express, Mangaluru city police commissioner Anupam Agarwal had also provided that a case had been registered against Pumpwell and others under Section 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Mangaluru South Police Station.

Commissioner Agarwal had provided that the saffron flags were planted by Pumpwell on the stalls owned by Hindus with the aim of ensuring that the ones owned by non-Hindus can be identified beforehand. Pumpwell had also made a statement urging Hindus to purchase their items of necessity only from shops owned and run by members of the Hindu community.

On October 15, a traders’ association in coastal Karnataka urged district authorities to allow Muslim vendors to participate in temple fairs during the upcoming festive season of Dasara. The said appeal was made by Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts Religious Fair Businessmen’s Coordination Committee, which includes members from various religious backgrounds, against the ban of Muslim traders from fairs and temples. The contention raised by committee convener B.K. Imthiyaz, as per the report of the Wire, was the Muslim community was not even seeking permission to run stalls inside temple premises but on the public roads that come under the city civic body.

Symbols of syncretism no more- banning diversity in a secular state?

The flawed reasoning behind the ban forms the state law, namely Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Rules, which was established in the year 2002. The Rules are being used to justify the prohibition of non-Hindus from engaging in any business within temple premises and leasing property near temples even when Rule 31(12) of the law specifies that it is related to immovable property located near a temple and does not apply to licences that shopkeepers get to run temporary stalls at fairs.

The list of bans from temple fairs and temple compounds imposed on Muslims vendors is not exhaustive, these are just the ones that were reported by media. As reported by News Minute, in the year 2022, the boycott campaign of the Hindutva group led to Muslims being excluded from 60 temple fairs in coastal Karnataka, as provided by Mohammed Arif, the secretary of the Udupi district street vendors’ association. The traders’ association, representing various communities, have time and against expressed concerns over the significant losses suffered by Muslim vendors due to last year’s bans on their participation in temple fairs. A report of the News Minute also provided that in cases were the Muslim traders did not abide by the bans imposed, the Hindutva group members would evict them from the fairs. The exclusion of Muslim traders had become a common pattern in temple fairs in the state of Karnataka under the governance of the BJP Party, and is yet to be fully sorted by the current ruling party of Congress. However, some instances people standing up against this aggressive campaign and urging for inclusion of Muslims in temple fairs are now also coming forth.

It is now to be seen how the Congress government will deal with the threats of the Hindutva groups in regards to the exclusion of Muslim vendors from the temple fair at the Siddheshwar Temple.

Related:

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2023: Muslims speak up on life amid targeted hatred

The post Karnataka: Hindutva groups call for economic boycott of Muslim vendors at Siddheshwar Temple appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Her tools of harassment include apprehending small-time Muslim traders, especially hawkers, and threatening them, asking them about their whereabouts. She also posts videos about mazaars (Muslim shrines) in Uttarakhand claiming how they are all illegal and have encroached government lands. CJP did a detailed profile of Semwal in March which can be read here.

She recorded this live stream from Garhwal on June 4. She then pointed her camera towards three men who were sipping tea and asked them their names and where they had come from. She then displayed on camera their identification document showing some rental certificate. “They have invaded our villages now and for some thousand rupees these villagers are giving them places on rent. Now I will have to complain against them, or we will have to send their bahu-beti (Daughters and Daughters-in-law) with them.

She then took one of them aside claiming that he lied to her about where he came from. She asked him to show what he was selling and kept claiming that he lied to her about his native place and when he tried to reason with her Radha said, “I will push you off this ledge if you lie to me”. Speaking in a threatening tone, she asked him to show his Aadhar card. On camera she even showed his Aadhar card details and she kept claiming that his Aadhar card was fake (which actually seemed authentic, like any other Aadhar card)

She threatened him to not enter this area to which he responded that she should let him go and that he will never come back here.

She then said, “How dare you come to the mountains. You don’t come here to sell goods, you come here to kidnap girls. If I throw off this ledge nobody will come to know. Aukaat me reh (Stay in your limits). Think ten times before coming here again.”

She then refused to return their Aadhar cards and said, “go to the police station and tell them that Radha has taken your Aadhar cards. Come along with the cops and then take your Aadhar cards back”.

The live stream video may be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/RadhaSemwalDhoni01/videos/577159367862234

Related:

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The post Repeat offender Radha Semwal snatches Aadhar cards of Muslim traders, threatens them appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Even as images and videos of the mishap started circulating, certain social media users tried to give the accident a communal twist by claiming that a mosque was located near the spot of the accident.

On Sunday, Memeghnad (@meghnad) tweeted a citizen’s agony: Since yesterday, there have been horrendous tweets and opinions being put out by BJP supporters about the #TrainTragedy.

These kind of incidents prove yet again how deranged that whole ecosystem really is.

Here’s a quick summary of the kind of shit that is being put out from…

Since yesterday, there have been horrendous tweets and opinions being put out by BJP supporters about the #TrainTragedy. These kind of incidents prove yet again how deranged that whole ecosystem really is.

Here’s a quick summary of the kind of things that is being put out:

(TRIGGER WARNING: This list will piss you off)

– Why should the Railway Minister resign? What’s the point? Instead he should work harder!

– Kavach safety system? Stop talking about that. It was not deployed on this track ok so it’s not anyone’s fault. Check your facts.

– Train accidents happen in other countries too ok. These kind of things keep happening around the world. No need to make a big deal of it.

– The opposition is responsible. Why is Rahul always outside India when some big accident happens huh huh huh?

– Why are all these other political leaders visiting the accident site huh? Something is fishy, something is afoot! But Ayega toh M….

– Look! There is a masjid beside the railway site. You know what THAT means right? TERRORISM.

(It was not a masjid, it was an ISKON temple)

– This is what happens when you let the reserved category inferior type people do railway job. Now suffer!

– Overpopulation. That’s the problem. It’s just too many people ok. And some of these people die when they crowd around.

– PM Modi rushed to the scene in such heat omg what great leader doing great things WE NEED HIM SO BADLY RIGHT NOW IN THIS DIFFICULT TIME!

– LEAVE MY MODIJI ALONE ITS NOT HIS FAULT NONE OF IT IS HIS FAULT PLS LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!!

Within hours after the deadly train crash in Odisha’s Balasore that killed close to 290 people,  several of them migrant labour, and wounded 1,000 others on Friday, June 2 evening, several social media accounts insinuated that Muslims were responsible for the accident. A preliminary inquiry by the Indian Railways revealed that “a signalling error was responsible for India’s deadliest train accident in two decades, stated the Indian Express citing a “multi-disciplinary joint-inspection note by supervisors”. Other news reports have highlighted concerns over maintenance and declining funds, as well as flaws in the signalling system.

These were not the serious concerns for trolls and accounts known for spreading majoritarian Hindutva. These accounts, also supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party swung into swift action to protect both the union government as also the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw from any responsibility (moral or otherwise) amidst growing voices for the minister to resign.

On the afternoon of June 3, Saturday, a Twitter account with the handle @randomsena posted an image of the crash site with an arrow pointing to a white structure with domes close to the tracks and captioned it “just saying…yesterday was Friday”. This seemed to suggest that the structure was a mosque and that Muslims were somehow responsible for the tragedy.

Fact-checkers from Boom and AltNews immediately pointed out that the shrine is, in fact, a temple run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness or Iskcon. Boom said its team checked images as well as footage.

More Hate

The story does not stop here. Shockingly, the Twitter account of “Prof.N John Camm”, who claims to be a senior Germany-based cardiologist, tweeted “rail jihad”. Several more right-wing Twitter accounts have joined the chorus alleging “sabotage” and a “conspiracy”.

Another Twitter user going by the name “BhikuMhatre” with the handle @MumbaichaDon, posted images of what he claimed was the “primary investigation report” and alleged that the tragedy “looked like a case of sabotage”. The Twitter user, whose followers include BJP leaders and a Mumbai BJP legislator, also demanded an investigation by the National Investigation Agency. This claim was retweeted by others, with one user alleging more “such incidents” ahead of the 2024 elections. Another alleged the hand of American billionaire George Soros and the Congress to create publicity for Congress Rahul Gandhi who is currently visiting the United States.

Hindu supremacist and journalist Suresh Chavhanke and his Sudarshan News (owing allegiance to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-RSS), known for incendiary television news programmes that target Muslims, further amplified these claims of sabotage, including tweeting out the hashtag “train accident or attack” in Hindi.

Twitter user PallaviCT, the co-convener of the Mumbai BJP’s social media cell, also drew links to unrelated previous incidents to claim there was sinister intent behind the Odisha train accident ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Twitter user’s bio says “blessed to be followed” by the prime minister.

On Sunday, the Odisha Police said that it was “highly unfortunate” that social media handles were “mischievously” communalising the train accident. The police warned of legal action against those trying to “create communal disharmony by spreading rumours”.

‘Reservations’ to blame

The most ludicrous of all was another section of Twitter users, meanwhile, has blamed the reservation policy in government jobs for Indians from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the train crash.

Fact check: ISKCON Temple not Mosque

Undeterred by fact however, the Twitter account named “The Random Indian”, however, doubled down on the claim. “Balasore is a hub of rohingya Muslims,” it said, defending itself by saying that there was “no mention of Muslims” in its post. In a revealing statement of the impact of the algorithms of hate, by the afternoon of June 4, Sunday, the tweet had garnered four million views and nearly 4,500 retweets. The account also posted a series of old news reports involving Muslim suspects in cases of previous, unrelated train incidents with comments such as “something is fishy” to claim a bigger “conspiracy” at work.

This is how it began. User The Random Indian (@randomsena) tweeted an image of a drone view of the spot with an arrow pointing at a white building, the apparent mosque, and wrote, ‘Just Saying Yesterday Was Friday’. By saying this, the user tried to claim that Muslims were responsible for the tragedy. This particular tweet was part of a thread wherein he tried to establish that the train accident was a planned attack by Muslims. (Archive)

Other users, including @RajputRanjanaa, @RealVirendraBJP, @abbajabbadabba4, verified user @VIRALKI44722069 and parody account @mdallahwala, tweeted the same image wherein the white building was pointed at and claimed that Muslims were responsible for the accident. (Archives- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

This claim is also viral on Facebook.

Altnews and Boomlive did swift fact checks

Fact check

Upon a closer examination of the spot from different angles, we found that the white structure seen in the viral image resembles a temple and not a mosque. The following image was used in a Reuters report titled, “Deadly Indian rail crash shifts focus from new trains to safety“. We have circled the structure on the image:

They reached out to journalist Tamal Saha who is currently at the spot of the accident in Bahanaga. He confirmed to Alt News that the structure near the accident was indeed a temple. Upon probing further, we found that the temple was the Bahanaga ISKCON temple. A YouTube video of the temple, uploaded five months ago shows that the structure is white in colour and was under construction (although functional) at that time as well. On our request, Saha visited the temple and sent us an image of the board outside the temple saying ISKCON Bahanaga.

Altnews also received a video capturing the entrance to the temple. Below is the comparison among a screen grab of the aforementioned video, by Altnews the portion of the viral image showing the alleged mosque and the image from the Reuters report. As is evident, all three show the same structure.

Below is another video capturing the road outside the temple

Altnews and Boom also reached out to the authorities of the ISKCON temple in Bahanaga who confirmed to us that the train accident happened on the tracks near the temple. They also confirmed that the structure seen next to the spot of the accident is the ISKCON temple.

All this hate when after over 12 hours after the mishap, the Railways is looking at the possibility of a signalling error as its prima facie cause, sources told The Indian Express. According to the report, a multi-disciplinary joint-inspection note by supervisors concluded that a green signal was given to the Coromandel Express to pass through the designated main line, and then the signal was taken off. But the train entered the loop line, rammed into a stationary goods train and derailed. Meanwhile, on the down line, the superfast express train from Yashwantpur had arrived and its two coaches derailed.

Thanks to the fact checking by Boom and Altnews it became clear that in the drone-view image of the train accident site in Balasore shared on social media, the white structure partly visible is not a mosque, but an ISKCON temple in Bahnaga. It is baseless and absurd to claim that the proximity of the structure had anything to do with the accident. At the time of the filing of this report, an inquiry is still on to ascertain the exact cause of the mishap.

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The post Hate and the Balasore train tragedy: Welcome to 2023 India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has filed a complaint with the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) against Aaj Tak’s ‘Black and White Show’ for containing themes of communal divide throughout its narrative. The host, Sudhir Chaudhary, did not try to mask his bias in any manner, manipulated facts and actively participating in the communal diatribe. The organisation has objected to the tone, tenor and choice of words spoken as well as displayed on the screen during the show. Since, this isin direct violation of the code of ethics and broadcasting as laid down by the NBDSA, the organization has escalated the same and filed a complaint.

The show was flagged off by the host with a communally polarising question: Muslim yuvaon ka garba ke pandolon meijaane ka makshad akhir hai kya? (What is the reason for Muslim youth to go to garba pandals?) CJP has mentioned in its letter that the show projects its prejudice against Islam and its followers by questioning why Muslims should take interest in participating in a festival that is celebrated by Hindus.

CJP had first shared our concerns with the Aaj Tak channel as per procedure on October 6, 2022. But after not receiving any kind of a response from the channel till October 20, 2022, we approached the NBDSA.

Some extracts from the show are mainly comments made by Chaudhary, the host of the show, which clearly make his communal narrative visible and obvious, threatening to mar, even destroy the secular fabric of the country. Examples of these are:

…breaking news to aapne bahut suni hogi, lekin aaj hum aapkeliye ek breaking vishleshan karenge. us khabar ka vishleshankarenge ji par hamare desh mein aaj kal bahut bahas ho rahihai. (You must have heard a lot of breaking news, but today we will do a breaking analysis for you. We will analyze that news, but there is a lot of debate in our country these days.)

…aur vah khabar hai garba karyakramon mein muslim yuvakonke upar lagayi gayi rok.(And that news is the ban imposed on Muslim youths in garba programs)

The brazen remarks that have been made by Sudhir Chaudhary directly fall with offensive and communal lines, which goes against the ethics of journalism and principles of self- regulation, including the code laid down by the NBDSA. The host’s specific questions like Inn garba pandalo mei muslim ladke hi kyu jaa rahe hai? Muslim ladkiyan kyu nahi, are completely unwarranted and baseless. Does the host even know how many Muslim girls are involved in participation/playing garba in these pandals? Is there any data to backup such claims being made on national television? As the anchor of show on a news channel, that is supposed to have a neutral and unbiased theme, the host did not even attempt to have any non-communal theme on the show.

The complaint also brings forward a gross violation on part of Aaj Tak, wherein attempts have been made to pitch the Hindu community against the Muslim community by bringing up issues of conflict during the show. The host has also presented“data” that claimed that the channel’s team went to the pandalsand found that Muslim boys are befriending Hindu girls.Throughout the show, the host was keen on leading the debate with her own set of ideologies and biases, and use their reach to influence the audience.

The complaint can be read here.

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The post CJP has filed a complaint in the NBDSA urging action against the divisive narrative in Sudhir Chaudhary’s show on Aaj Tak appeared first on SabrangIndia.