WhatsApp, X, Instagram provide access to Jammu & Kashmir police to track individuals
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have secured direct cooperation from major social media platforms, granting them access to track individuals and entities, officials have claimed. Police say that they are actively monitoring the IP addresses of individuals engaged in spreading allegedly “anti-national” content.
This collaboration, which is an extreme breach of privacy for civilians, extends to a host of social media giants, including WhatsApp, X, Snapchat, Instagram, Telegram, and TikTok, among others.
Dalit woman stripped, beaten, and humiliated as attackers urinate upon her in Patna
In a horrific case of casteist and gendered violence, Dalit woman was abducted, stripped, assaulted, and humiliated as her attackers urinated on her in Patna’s Moshimpur village. The victim had filed a police complaint against Pramod Singh for harassment and threats. After Singh returned from police questioning, he and a group of others abducted the woman by night and subjected her to the horrifying assault.
Aligarh University student leader arrested, sparks concerns of crackdown on dissent
Farhan Zuberi, a doctoral fellow at Aligarh Muslim University, was arrested by police in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh state. Zuberi is a student leader at the university and has been actively involved in leading protests against Hindu supremacist policies. Student activists say his arrest is an attempt to stifle dissenting voices in anticipation of the 2024 elections.
“It’s evident that this government is cracking down on dissenters,” said Zuberi’s brother Imran. “They seem intolerant of any criticism or questioning, and Farhan is certainly a prominent dissenting voice.”
Zuberi was previously arrested in May 2020 in connection with the protests against India’s anti-Muslim citizenship law.
BJP leader promotes “love jihad” conspiracy theory on national TV
Days after a BJP leader faced backlash for hurling slurs at a Muslim lawmaker, another BJP leader, Narottam Mishra, went on national TV to stoke further anti-Muslim hatred by promoting the conspiracy theory of “love jihad” on national TV.
Love Jihad is a Hindu extremist conspiracy theory that claims Muslim men have an agenda to seduce Hindu women into Islam. Muslim men have often been targeted, assaulted, and lynched by Hindu extremist mobs over bogus allegations of love jihad.
India flagged for digital authoritarianism by anti-censorship network
India is among 20 countries flagged by global anti-censorship network Global Voices Advox for digital authoritarianism in the form of restricted internet access for citizens, crackdowns on journalists, and the dehumanization and vilification of the BJP’s political opponents.
“In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and its followers have long used their social media presence to promote their brand and troll religious and political minorities,” the network said in its recently released report.
Anti-Muslim hate speech in New Delhi, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan
In the capital city of New Delhi, Pinky Chaudhry, the leader of a Hindu supremacist group, called Muslims by slurs in a hate speech and attempted to demonize the presence of Muslims in the city’s Chandni Chowk area.
In Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, a Hindu far-right leader demonized Muslims and called for their ostracization at an event organized by Hindu militant groups Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang. At another Bajrang Dal-VHP rally in Dehradun, anti-Muslim slogans were raised.
In Nagaur, Rajasthan, a Bajrang Dal leader threatened Muslims, claiming that they won’t allow mosques and shrines to remain in India. In Dhaulpur, a Hindu supremacist speaker delivered a hateful speech against Muslims and their places of worship.
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