Bulli Yes: Muslim women in India reappear in ‘auction’ app | Islamophobia News

New Delhi, India – On January 1, Quratulain Rehbar, an Indian-administered Kashmir journalist, found himself listed in an “online auction”. His photo was taken without his permission and was uploaded to an app “for sale”.

He was not alone.

Photographs of more than 100 Muslim women, including famous actress Shabana Azami, the wife of a Delhi High Court judge, photos of various journalists, activists and politicians appeared in the auction application as the daily “Bulli Bai”.

Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai was also not saved by the culprits.

Last July “On DealsIn which nearly 80 Muslim women were put up for sale, Bulli Bai was the second such attempt in less than a year.

“Both‘ Bulli ’and‘ Sulli ’are derogatory words used for Muslim women in local slang. However, this time Punjabi has been used in the ‘Bulli Bai’ interface along with English, “Mohammad Zubair, a journalist, told Al Jazeera on the AltNews website.

Rehbar, who reported on the “Sulli Deals” auction in July last year, told Al Jazeera that he was surprised to see his photo on the app.

“When I saw my picture, my throat was heavy, I had a goose year in my arms and I was falling. It was amazing and humiliating, ”he said.

Last year I wrote about how images of Muslim women were auctioned off online where women felt corrupted and humiliated. Today, a year after seeing my picture in a different trend #bullideals, in addition to other Muslim women, I find it terribly disgusting. https://t.co/AE0N1sInE2

– Quratulain Rehbar (@ainulrhbr) January 1, 2022

Although there was no real sales, the online app – created by Microsoft’s GitHub open source software development site – was, according to Rehbar, “degrading and humiliating Muslim women voices.”

The app was removed on Saturday, and the victims said that the interface of the GitHub extension in “Bulli Bai” was similar to that used by “Sulli Deals”.

As of Saturday evening, dozens of other Muslim women began posting their surprise and anger on social media after seeing their photos and details on the app.

Among them was Ismat Ara, a journalist from the capital city of New Delhi.

Arak filed a complaint with the Delhi Police on Saturday against “unknown persons” for harassing and insulting Muslim women on social media, “for using unacceptable and obscene images in doctoral contexts.”

According to her complaint, on Sunday the Delhi Cyber ​​Police filed the First Information Report (FIR) citing various sections of the Indian Penal Code on promoting religious hostility, threatening national integration and sexual harassment of women.

UPDATE: A FIR has been registered by the Cyber ​​Police (South East Delhi) under section 153A of the IPC (promoting hostility due to religion, etc.), 153B (allegations that are detrimental to national integration), 354A and 509 according to my complaint for sex. harassment. #BulliDeals pic.twitter.com/dJ1mspyiGI

– Ismat Ara (@IsmatAraa) January 2, 2022

After another complaint by Sidrah, his photo also appeared in the app, a police case was also registered in the Indian capital Mumbai against several Twitter handles and the developers of the “Bulli Bai” app.

However, Ara said he was not optimistic about the police investigation, fearing that he would not see any arrests in the “Sulli Deals” investigation for six months.

Mumbai-based lawyer Fatima Zohra Khan, whose name appears in the “Sulli” and “Bulli Bai” agreements, filed a complaint with Mumbai police last year.

“We have not received a response from Twitter, GitHub and Go-Daddy (the web hosting company) despite the fact that the Mumbai Police itself requested the data. These websites refuse to share information unless a court order is issued,” he told Al Jazeera.

New Delhi and Mumbai police officials did not respond to questions about Al Jazeera’s latest “auction”.

I tried to gather some strength to write something #BulliDeals. When I thought I had left the trauma #SulliDeals After me, he came to impress us (along with more than 112 Muslim women) with an updated version as a new year. 1/6

– Nabiya Khan | Nabiya Khan (@ NabiyaKhan11) January 2, 2022

“It’s sad to see how these hate-sellers are allowed Muslim women to act without fear. This is not the first time such an auction has been held, “said Arak.

“Targeted women are the voices of women who raise Muslim issues on social media. Closing these Muslim women is a clear conspiracy because we are challenging the right-wing Hindu online against their hate crimes, ”she added.

At last year’s Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday, a YouTube channel called “Liberal Doge” shared photos of Pakistani women in a sexualized video called “Special Eid”. The company removed him after the outrage.

A few weeks after the incident, Muslim women were “auctioned off” on Twitter under “Sulli Deals”.

The collective anger of Muslim women that you are currently seeing in your timelines comes from a place of deep concern: being exotic, demonic, and protected at the same time. Experiences that are sold online since they are constantly talking. #BulliDeals

– Fatima Khan (@khanthefatima) January 1, 2022

Several Indian parliamentarians have raised the issue with the government, including Priyanka Chaturvedi, who lives in the western state of Maharashtra, Mumbai.

After calling on India’s IT minister to take “drastic measures” against the “misogynistic and community goals” of women, the minister said GitHub had blocked the user responsible for hosting the website and that “police authorities are coordinating further action”.

“Police complaints were recorded during the ‘Sulli deals’. However, no action was taken. That is the reason why these people feel so brave,” Chaturvedi told Al Jazeera.

There are many Muslim names, including mine, that are disgusting #BulliDeals , the same #SulliDeals
Najeeb’s mother has not been saved either. It is a reflection on the broken system of justice in India, a broken organization of law and order. Are we becoming the safest country for women?

– Sayema ​​(@_sayema) January 1, 2022

Rehbar said it was “particularly worrying” for Muslim women who are “fighting against patriarchy and restrictions” and, on the other hand, for “suffering this persecution.”

“Women are often asked to remove and hide photos from social media. After such attempts to persecute Muslim women, it will be difficult for many women to take a stand. “

Rana Ayyub, a columnist for The Washington Post’s Mumbai, said the people at Al Jazeera were “claiming specific harassment of women without identifying the law.”

“‘Bulli Bai’ takes the hate crime in India to another dangerous level, where Muslim women are being violated and freed on all sides by a wholesale mafia,” she said.

“These auctions of women in minority communities show the moral degradation of India and its constitutional values.”