ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned the displaying of Muslim women’s photographs for fake online auction on a website in India, terming it “despicable and totally unacceptable”.
For the second time in less than a year, photos of Muslim women have been uploaded to an application pretending to offer online “auctions” in India.
Users who open the app are shown images of women – mostly doctored photos – with the tag line: “Your Bulli Bai of the day”. The app, created on hosting platform Github, derives its name from the phrase Bulli Bai, a derogatory term used for Muslim women.
Hundreds of women, including journalists, social workers and other prominent personalities in India, found their images on the app on New Year’s Day. The discovery has prompted outrage, with the Indian government promising it will take action.
In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) said Pakistan strongly condemns the despicable and totally unacceptable harassment and insult of Muslim women on the internet and purpose-built online application in India.
“In a completely obnoxious and repugnant act, aimed at humiliating, harassing and insulting Muslim women, their doctored images have been placed on the internet application with outrageous captions for auction,” the statement said.
It continued, “Hate-mongering followers of such applications attacked the dignity of nearly 100 influential Muslim women by ‘bidding’ on them with deeply offensive remarks.”
The FO said this was the “newest low in the violent streak of hate attacks against minorities in India whereby cyberspace — with purpose-built online platform(s) and social media — has been used yet again, to demean and harass women, particularly Muslim women, [so as] to create a feeling of fear and shame amongst the Muslim community”.
The FO further stated that under the “Hindutva-inspired BJP-RSS combine dispensation” in New Delhi, space for minorities, particularly Muslims, continued to shrink in India.
“It is reprehensible that no action has been taken against the perpetrators of [a] similar abhorrent act six months ago,” wherein the photographs of dozens of influential Muslim women were put up on a social media platform, the FO said.
It added that Pakistan was reiterating its calls on the international community, particularly the UN and relevant international human rights and humanitarian organisatins, to fulfill their responsibilities to “stop the rising xenophobia, Islamophobia and violent attacks against minorities in India and ensure their safety, security and well-being”.
