Islamophobia continues to surge in India as Muslim women are now being auctioned online under the headline “Sulli Deal of the Day.”
According to the reports, a software development platform, GitHub, uploaded photos of 90 Muslim women for sale. Allegedly, some “unidentified” extremists created an app called “Sulli Deals” using GitHub on July 4, with the sole purpose of auctioning off Muslim women.
“Sulli” is a term used frequently as a satire for Muslim women in the country and here, it has also been used in the context of “Slave.”
The app would ask the user to ‘Find your Sulli Deal of the Day and then randomly display a photo of an Indian Muslim woman. Social media accounts of these women were used to source pictures without their knowledge.
The victim women belong to different professions including journalism, arts, social work and research. While most of the women put on auction were from India, profiles of women from other countries including Pakistan were also uploaded.
Dehli Police has launched an investigation into the online sale of Muslim women. Police has registered a case against unknown persons as they have not been able to identify the culprits yet.
The victims say that their inhumane auction was an example of growing Islamophobia across India. Many of India’s 170 million Muslims believe that they have been treated like second-class citizens since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, came to power in 2014.
Hana Mohsin Khan, one of the Github victims, was informed by a friend that her profile was available on the website. Hana, who is a commercial pilot by profession, was the one who stood up and filed an FIR.
“I’m resolute and firm in getting these cowards to pay for what they have done,” she wrote on Twitter, adding a copy of the FIR.
Filed an FIR.
I’m resolute and firm in getting these cowards to pay for what they have done.
These repeat offences will not be taken sitting down.
Do your worse. I will do mine.
I am a non-political account targeted because of my religion and gender.#sullideals pic.twitter.com/mvt20VWPqp— Hana Mohsin Khan (@girlpilot_) July 7, 2021
This isn’t the first time Muslim women have been harassed or threatened with rape in India. Earlier in May, a Hindu named Ritesh Jha, live-streamed the photos of Muslim women on the festival of Eid with a noxious description. The women being sexualised in Livestream belonged not only to India but Pakistan as well.
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