On August 15, as India was celebrating the 75th anniversary of its independence, 11 men convicted of gang-raping a Muslim woman in 2002 were granted premature release from their life sentences.
Onscreen Muslim representation has a long way to go.
Anti-Muslim violence and hate speech have become normalized under the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but activists say that the attacks against India’s Muslims have ratcheted up over the last year — particularly, against Muslim women.
New proposed legislation from Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India, is being criticized by population and public health experts as not only unnecessary but discriminatory—particularly, against the state’s Muslim minority.
More than 80 women had their names and pictures posted without their consent on the app’s “deals of the day.” Rather than hosting actual transactions, the sole purpose of the app was to humiliate its subjects.
Women who participated in anti-CAA protests nearly two years ago continue to be targeted by law enforcement, bearing the full brunt of the security apparatus or facing aggressive intimidation.
The “love jihad” bill is yet another attempt by Hindu nationalists to demean and malign the Muslim population by portraying Muslim men as sexual predators who commit jihad by converting Hindu women to Islam.