India’s Hindu Nationalists Are Inciting Hate By Claiming Muslims Are Spreading Coronavirus – By David Gilbert
Dilshad Muhamud did not have COVID-19…. Nevertheless, hours later, he took his own life. His family claims the 34-year-old dairy farmer killed himself because his neighbors believed he had the disease and taunted and threatened him for spreading it around the village.… That meeting and the revelation that members of the group tested positive for coronavirus was the spark that kickstarted a virulent hate speech campaign online that has seen far-right Hindu nationalists weaponize Facebook and Twitter to attack and threaten Muslims in India.
That campaign, baseless and hateful, claims that Muslims are purposely infecting swathes of the Indian population. The campaign uses hashtags like #CoronaJihad, #CrushTablighiSpitters, #MuslimMeaningTerrorist, and #BioJihad on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The posts are being shared with hundreds of millions of people by supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his political party.
The police are investigating Muhamud’s death, and say they will “take legal action against those who taunted him.” But activists believe that Muhamud’s death is linked to the much wider campaign of hate against Muslims. The campaign shows how fears about the spread of the coronavirus have merged with longstanding Islamophobia in India, putting the lives of India’s 200 million Muslims at risk.…
SEE ALSO
India Could Be on the Brink of a Coronavirus Catastrophe – and Modi Will Be to Blame – By Asif Bukhari (Apr 7, 2020, Jacobin)
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/04/india-modi-political-prisoners-coronavirus-crisis
Modi promotes Hindutva even in the pandemic – By Bhim Bhurtel (Apr 9, 2020, Asia Times)
https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/modi-promotes-hindutva-even-in-the-pandemic/
In India, Coronavirus Fans Religious Hatred – By Jeffrey Gettleman, Kai Schultz and Suhasini Raj (Apr 12, 2020, New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/world/asia/india-coronavirus-muslims-bigotry.html
How vocabulary was weaponised to target Indian Muslims after the Tablighi Jamat event – By Rizwan Ahmad (Apr 12, 2020, Scroll.in)
