Online sexual attack against Muslim women: Open letter to CJI

News Network
January 6, 2022

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Request for a Suo motu petition in regard to the unconstitutional, illegal and misogynistic targeting of Muslim women through the SulliDeals and BulliBai Apps.

On the 1st of January, 2022, as the world was sending out celebratory messages to mark the New Year, hundreds of Muslim women woke up to deeply objectionable, obnoxious and misogynistic attack on them via the ‘Bulli Bai App’. Photos of hundreds of Muslim women, including prominent journalists, activists and thinkers, were secured and uploaded without their permission on this app and were subsequently ‘auctioned’.

The Bulli App was hosted at the URL bullibai.github.io. GitHub is platform which hosts websites, with a repository of open-source codes. After much furore, the platform was finally taken down on the morning of 01.01.2022 and the Twitter handle of the Bulli Bai has been suspended. Like ‘Sulli Deals’ the ‘Bulli Bai’ app was also created and used on GitHub. The GitHub platform allows users to create and share apps. While the portal is no longer functional, the offenders continue to walk around scot-free leaving the survivors struggling with their personal identities revealed to millions of social media users who want to buy and sell their bodies. This has rendered them vulnerable in both social media spaces and real world.

This is not the first when such an outrageous public sale of Muslim women’s bodies has taken place openly. In the month of July 2021, a similar App called Sulli Deals app offered photographs of Muslim women as ‘deals.’ for virtual auctions. The perpetrators even had no fear of legal consequences as they publicy declared their intention to launch an application that facilitates the sale of Muslim women. While the very action of downloading and posting pictures and private details of Muslim women, in both instances, was not only non-consensual and in violation of the right to privacy, it was clearly meant to degrade, dehumanize, vilify and demean Muslim women. ‘Auctioning’ women in this manner is a depraved attempt to commodify them and strip them of any personhood or dignity. This is a blatant violation of the very fundamental right to live with dignity and the right to bodily autonomy protected under Article 21 of our Constitution.

However, it is imperative for us to also recognise these repeated attacks on the dignity of Muslim women as a well thought out political strategy by majoritarian forces to systematically isolate Muslims for public harassment and humiliation, and intimidate them into silence. Terms such as ‘Sulli’ and ‘Bulli’ are offensive and derogatory slurs used to specifically insult and denigrate women belonging to the Muslim community and thereby, constitutes hate speech. The public auction of Muslim women is an extreme form of vilification of Muslims reducing them to non-citizens and sub-humans. This only points to the utter moral bankruptcy in our society where communal elements openly target, bully and perpetuate sexual violence against women with alarming impunity. Read along with the public calls for genocide on the streets of Delhi earlier last year, and at the Dharam Sansad in Haridwar more recently, it is evident that instances such as these are carefully strategized hate crimes pushing our country into a dark abyss to which there can be no turning a blind eye to anymore.

Apps such as ‘Sulli deals’ and ‘Bulli Bai’, similarly, perpetuate violence against Muslim women. These apps use pictures and social media accounts of women based on ‘visible indicators’ that establish that they are Muslim, such as their names, usernames, posts, and so on. This is a direct manifestation of the prevalent objectification of Muslim women. These actions, in addition to leading to a severe assault on the dignity of Muslim women, has affected their public participation as well. Many Muslim women were forced to undertake actions such as deleting their pictures and many had to even delete their social media profiles. This has severely limited the participation of Muslim women in online public spaces. State inaction which has allowed this, constitutes a violation of the preambular promise to Equality of Opportunity. Muslims are systematically being denied the opportunity to participate wholly and freely in public life.

Following the attacks against Muslim women on the Sulli Deals App in July, 2021, two FIRs were filed by the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police. Both the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) took cognizance of the matter and assured action. Worryingly, nearly six months after the incident was first reported, investigations have made little progress and investigative agencies have not even able to identify the perpetrators of the crime.(1) The callous attitude of the state machinery in addressing the issue has made a complete mockery of the suffering and trauma of the targeted women. As an extension, the deafening silence of the law enforcement agencies in countering repeated communal onslaughts on Muslim women cannot but be seen as an implicit endorsement of such depravity.

The Constitution of India promises every citizen equality and a life of dignity. Nonetheless, routine communal and misogynistic aggressions such as these deprive Muslim women of the most fundamental rights. They compel marginalised women to live in fear and terror in their own country. No civilised society should meekly allow for the targeted harassment, objectification and public auctioning of its women. Given the colossal failure of the state machinery in adequately responding to such instances of hate crimes in the country, the onus now falls upon the Supreme Court to urgently intervene to safeguard the constitutional rights of minority communities and restore public faith in constitutional systems.

Such despicable assaults on the dignity of Muslim women are also calculated attacks on the very idea of India as envisaged by the Indian Constitution. They are carried out with the specific intent of ‘othering’ all marginalised communities and breaking our cherished secular fabric. These actions, solely based on religious hatred, militate against the Constitutional notions of fraternity and violate the right to equality, the right against discrimination, the right to personal liberty, right to religious freedom and the right to life. While our constitution strives for a safe environment for people irrespective of their gender and religion, such acts of violence continue to promote discrimination and public disharmony.

We, therefore, demand that the Supreme Court register a Suo motu petition and ensure that:

(i) The police register FIRs Suo moto and on the basis of complaints, investigate the offence expeditiously and take necessary steps against the perpetrators.

(ii) Monitor the investigation and prosecution in regard to these offences. (edited on 4th Jan)

(iii) Investigation and prosecution in regard to the FIRs registered in July, 2021 also be monitored by the Supreme Court and necessary action be taken if it is found that the police have failed to discharge their duties.

(iv) Direct the concerned authorities to ensure that the GitHub and Twitter platforms are not used for such blatantly illegal activities as Sulli deals and Bulli Bai apps.

(v) Direct payment of suitable compensation to the victims of these communal hate crimes.

(vi) Direct that appropriate steps be taken to ensure the prevention of recurrence of any such communal hate crime.

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News Network
September 19,2023

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Kasaragod, Sept 19: The negligence on part of authorities, who failed to understand the consequence of potholes on Kasaragod – Chandragiri state highway has claimed the life of a future doctor. 

The victim is Shivani Baliga (20), who was pursuing her MBBS studies at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. She is the daughter of Mahesh Chandra Baliga who was the former president of Kannur Chamber of Commerce, and resided near St. Michael's School, Kannur.

The girl lost her life when her scooter went out of control due to a potohole near Chandragiripalam between Kasrargod and Kanhangad on Sunday, September 17 night. 

Shivani sustained serious injuries in the accident and was rushed to a private hospital, where she breathed her last the very next day. She is survived by her father, mother Anupama, and her brother Rajat Baliga, who is employed as an engineer in Bengaluru. Kasargod police have initiated an investigation into the incident.

Unheard pleas

Local residents and motorists had been urging the authorities at least to temporarily fill the potholes on the road to avert tragedies. The residents reiterated their demand when a 20-year old Ajit Kurup suffered severe injuries in an accident and landed in Mangaluru hospital a few days ago the same road. Had their demand been met at least temporarily, this major tragedy would not have happened.

According to reports at least eight two-wheelers were involved in accidents just two days (September 17 and 18) on the same road injuring many people including women and children. 

The road through Chandragiripalam is full of potholes. Three huge potholes near Pulikun Junction pose major threat. Most of the potholes were at the end of the interlocked section between Chandrigiri Bridge and Chandragiri Junction and at a distance of 5 meters from there to the bridge. It is almost impossible for two-wheeler riders to escape these potholes. 

After the major tragedy, the authorities took steps to fill some of the potholes temporarily with jelly stones without tar. However, due to rain and passing of cargo vehicles the some of the potholes have already reappeared.

Even though various organizations and drivers had repeatedly urged the authorities to take up the repair work before the commencement of the rainy season, no action was taken. Due to the construction work of the national highway, long-distance buses and goods vehicles ply on this road. The officials of the maintenance department on the other hand claim that the rains have hindered the pothole filling work. 

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News Network
September 19,2023

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Bolstering food security, Abu Dhabi-headquartered retail giant LuLu Group International has opened its world-class sourcing, food processing and export hub in Italy.

The facility located ideally at World Trade Center Malpensa Airport Milan will further boost LuLu Group’s sourcing operations not only from Italy but from nearby European countries thereby ensuring uninterrupted supply and price stability of food products. The group aims to export food products worth 200 million euros in 2 years.

Y International Italia, the sourcing division of Lulu Group, was inaugurated by Guido Guidesi, a Regional Minister for Economic Development, in the presence of Yusuffali MA, chairman and managing director of LuLu Group.

Guidesi welcomed the UAE-based group’s new project in Italy and assured the highest level of support and cooperation that will further enhance trade ties between Italy and the Arab world.

Yusuffali noted: “As a key partner in the food security sector in the Middle East, it is our ongoing strategy to set up our own sourcing and food processing units around the world to ensure uninterrupted supply and ensure competitive pricing by eliminating middlemen.”

The state-of-the-art facility will primarily focus on sourcing, processing, storing, packaging and exporting top-quality food products from Italy to more than 255 LuLu Hypermarkets spread across GCC countries, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The focus categories will be varieties of cheeses, chocolates, fruit jams, sweet and puff pastries, organic pasta, infused extra-virgin olive oil, and high-quality sea salt from well-known Italian brands. Apart from packed food, the centre will also source and export a wide range of fruits and vegetables mainly apples, grapes, kiwi, olives, etc.

“Italy has some unique cuisines, a vast variety of fruits, vegetables, and various commodities, and we are working closely with the Italian Trade Agency to boost the export of these products to our hypermarkets. We will work closely with all stakeholders to promote the Italian brands by organising ‘Italian Food Festivals’ across our hypermarkets,” Yusuffali said.

The new project will target food exports worth 200 million euros in 2 years and create jobs in Italy.

“We will be initially exporting worth 50 million euros and expect to reach 200 million euros in 2 years. We are tying up with farmers’ cooperative societies to source fruits and vegetables, which will surely have a positive impact on the agricultural sector of Italy. In addition, this project will also generate significant employment in Italy,” Yusuffali added.

The group has similar food processing centres in the UK, the US, Spain, Turkey, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and South Africa, among others.

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News Network
September 11,2023

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New Delhi, Sept 11: Renowned Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan alleged that the central government has been campaigning for the 'one nation one election' (ONOE) only to postpone upcoming assembly elections in five states.

The assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram are due later this year.

"ONOE cannot be implemented in a Parliamentary democracy like India because in our system a government can fall in midterm when it loses majority and a fresh government forms," Bhushan told reporters here on Sunday.

However, if the one nation one election will be implemented, in such a situation, Presidential rule will be imposed, which is against democracy, he claimed.

"That means we are switching from democratic system to a presidential rule system. So it will be a total violation of parliamentary democracy. In my view, the government clearly knew about this and they also know that several amendments in the constitution are required to switch to the presidential rule system," Bhushan said.

He said the present government does not have the majority in Rajya Sabha. The government knew about all these facts. Still, they floated the balloon (one nation one election) with only one objective to postpone the state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, which are due later this year.

"The BJP government is fearing defeat in upcoming assembly elections in these five states. So, they are going to postpone the assembly polls till the general election in 2024 in the name of ONOE. And, President Rule will be imposed in the states," he claimed.

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