A petri dish of deep distrust and hatred
Four early arrests, three in Mumbai, smell like the beginning of justice for over 100 Muslim women who were sexually assaulted in an “auction” on New Year’s Day. It’s what happens when the State takes notice of a crime of this magnitude, and acts.
But what next? Satej Patil, Maharashtra’s minister of state for home, promises to “unearth the entire nexus that is enabling such hate crimes against women.”
He’s right. These crimes don’t exist in a vacuum. The online violence reflects a real-world where Yati Narsinghanand, one of the organisers of the “dharam sansad”, where calls for genocide were made, says: “Muslim women will sleep with anybody for the sake of Islam.”
It reflects a filthy online world where for at least three years fake social media accounts — “Zalim Hindu”, “Saira Besharam” — promote pornographic material that glorifies sexual violence against Muslim women depicted as “sex slaves of Hindu kattar (staunch) men”.
It reflects the divisiveness sown by media that makes free use of labels like “jihadi” and “anti-national” and, where hours after the arrest of an 18-year-old woman accused, anchors spin tear-jerker backgrounds of how she’s an orphan as if that justifies criminal behavior.
It’s a reflection of our politics — sadly, across parties. Not one person from the ruling party has so far condemned the “auction” or expressed even the most banal reassurance.
It reflects the weak-kneed response of online platforms such as Twitter and Github that are failing women over online violence.
But, really, it’s a reflection of us, stewing in a petri dish of distrust and hatred, silent consumers of everyday bigotry: Namaaz at designated sites stopped, Muslim livelihoods threatened, lynchings unpunished. To be numb is a privilege. To be at the receiving end is to live in terror. “When I stepped out, I kept looking over my shoulder to see if someone was coming after me,” says Sidrah Patel, one of the targets of the New Year’s “auction”. “It was terrifying.”
The sexualised attack of Muslim women is not new. Over the past year, there have been at least three “auctions” — May 2020, Eid in July, and November on Clubhouse. Each time, police complaints were filed. Each time nothing happened.
“The police kept telling me they are investigating,” says Hana Mohsin Khan, a pilot and one of the women targeted in July. “Then I just gave up and stopped asking.”
Initially, Patel was reluctant to file a complaint. “But then I thought, this isn’t about me. This cannot and should not be allowed.”
The arrests have given her a small measure of confidence. “It feels good to know you’re in a space where you are supported.”