New Delhi, January 04, 2022 (PPI-OT):Barely six months after going through a mortifying experience of being put up on auction through what’s sarcastically called sulli deals, Muslim women are put through similar ordeal. Hundreds of Muslim women in India were again put up on sale through another app called Bulli Bai created on GitHub, an American hosting platform.
The Bulli Bai, which targeted mostly activists, journalists, lawyers and other Muslim women who are vocal for Muslim rights, appeared through an unknown handle on Twitter. The auctioning went on till Saturday when GitHub blocked that App which carries photos of all the victim women. A similar auction was carried out in June last year when the victims had filed complaints with the Delhi Police, but no action was taken against the culprits.
Fatima Zohra Khan, a lawyer who is always vocal against Narendra Modi Government’s policies, was targeted both the times. She said that such incidents made her extremely insecure and paranoid about her privacy.
“This is not the first time my name has emerged, in Sulli Deals too my name along with my sister’s was put up for auction, my sister left social media after that. I was the only complainant in Mumbai at that time, my complaint is still in process, now again this has happened. I seriously don’t know what to feel about this, I have a deep paranoia now about my privacy and life. The perpetrators particularly choose only 100 Muslim women, just because we are vocal, so there’s also misogynistic mindset with present Islamophobia combined in this country. I don’t know whether we’ll get justice or not amongst the genocide calls for Muslims in recent hate speech event held at Haridwar, all these instances makes me extremely insecure as a Muslim woman in India as we are a minority among the minority,” Khan in a statement to media.
Khan, who hails from Mumbai, again filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police and also tagged Maharashtra Ministers. Nawab Malik, minority affairs minister in Maharashtra, took notice of her Tweet on social media. Maharashtra’s home minister Dilip Walse Patil said that the Mumbai police are investigating the case.
However, Khan said “I am still skeptical about the outcome because when it comes to minority rights in India, our future is in doldrums and it depresses me deeply”.
Apart from Khan, there are others who expressed their shock after they saw their name in the Bulli Bai app. Hiba Bega, a journalism student at Columbia University, was also targeted a second time. She said that she came to know about the appearance of her name in the Bulli Bai when she was coming back after visiting the grave of grandmother. She expressed her anger over inaction against the culprits after her name appeared last time in the Sulli deals.
“You did nothing to stop this the last time, and here it is again. I have censored myself, I hardly speak here anymore, but still, I am being sold online, I’m being made “deals” out of. @ColumbiaSIPA- Your student is being sold online, twice in a matter of half a year,” she tweeted.
She asked as to how many deals it will take to act against the culprits.
“When I ask my privileged Hindu friends to speak, I don’t do it out of cautionary plans. I do it because it is screaming in my face. I am not safe in this country. Muslim women like me are not safe in this country. How many online deals will it take for us to see action? HELP US!,” she said. Another victim Fatima Khan, a journalist, said that there is frustration and hopelessness among Muslim women.
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