Victims hold out hope for police action over app auctioning India’s Muslim women

NEW DELHI: Indian Muslim women put up “for sale” in online auctions lamented a lack of police action, but held out hope for justice, against what they describe as targeted online harassment in the second time in less than a year that a digital campaign of this kind has sparked outrage among the community.
More than 100 Muslim women, including journalists, activists, politicians, and even acclaimed Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi, were put up for auction on “Bulli Bai,” an open source app hosted on the web platform GitHub. The app, which has since been taken down, was the second attempt in less than a year to harass Muslim women. Last July, nearly 80 Muslim women were offered for sale in a similar “Sulli Deals” campaign.
Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women Association (AIPWA), said “police apathy” and a failure to identify and punish suspects was the reason the app had resurfaced with a new avatar.
But the head of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma, who is a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the body, which works closely with the Indian government on issues concerning women, was in touch with police.
“With the help of the Delhi police we tried to find out the individuals responsible but the problem is that the website is located in some other countries,” Sharma said. “They are not giving any details. Police are therefore finding it difficult to reach the right persons.”
Delhi Police did not respond to repeated attempts on Monday to reach them.
Many among India’s 170 million Muslims say they have been relegated to the status of second-class citizens since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.
AIPWA’s Krishnan said the online attack on Muslim women was “not separate from the majoritarian project of the ruling BJP.”
Fatima Zohra, a Mumbai-based lawyer whose photos were displayed on both apps, also said the issue should be seen as part of growing Islamophobia in India.
“Deep down I feel that all this happened because the culprits were given impunity as the victims are Muslim women,” she said. “What I wonder most is only Muslim women are targeted and especially those who are vocal and opinionated regarding anti-democratic policies of the state.”
Hana Mohsin Khan, a professional pilot based in New Delhi, said a repeat of the online campaign had left her feeling hopeless.
Khan filed a police complaint last July, when her name first appeared on the “Sulli Deals” app.
“I feel so dehumanized as a woman and a Muslim,” Khan said, adding: “I don’t see anything happening to the perpetrators again. I am really in a sad state.”
But Ismat Ara, whose name and photo have been listed on the “Bulli Bai” app and who lodged a complaint with authorities, said it was “important” to hold on to hope.
“Since no arrests have been made in the earlier case, it makes me skeptical,” Ara said. “At the same time it is also important to be hopeful because the first step has been taken by filing a police case and hope that something will come out that will put a stop to such incidents.”

Victims hold out hope for police action over app auctioning India’s Muslim women