An open letter by prominent individuals and groups expressed outrage against such misogynistic act to target Muslim women
Spl correspondent New Delhi
An open letter demanding action against the online targeting of Muslim women has been endorsed by 900 individuals and groups which includes lawyers, journalists, academics, activists, students and concerned individuals.
They have expressed outrage after the ‘reprehensible targeting of Muslim women on GitHub, a free web platform, where Twitter handles, and photographs of Muslim women were uploaded with the explicit aim of directing sexualised hate and harm at these women’.
The signatories of the open letter condemned the repeated and systemic targeting that aims to ‘de-humanise and sexualise Muslim women’, calling it ‘a systemic act of intimidation and harm’. The signatories condemned the ‘openly misogynistic hate speech against minority communities’ which ‘celebrates a rape culture against Muslim women’ who are ‘targeted for their religious identity’, and noted that such online targeting ‘impacts the dignity of all women’.
Importantly, the letter notes the ‘use of sexualized political campaigns against women who speak against the ruling dispensation is fast becoming mainstream political culture’. Demanding prompt and effective legal action to deter and hold the perpetrators accountable, the signatories condemned the ‘targeted campaign’ to regulate Muslim women’s political speech and political participation in democracy as full and equal citizens of this country’. They noted that such targeting ‘is part of the project to push Muslim women out of public spaces, offline and online, by causing them harm and censoring their speech.’
The statement has been endorsed by a wide range of individuals and groups working in the field of human rights, women’s rights and transgender rights groups, minority rights, workers and farmers rights, including Bebaak Collective, Food Sovereignty Alliance, India AIPWA, Anhad, AIDWA, Saheli Women’s Resource Center, National Federation of Indian Women, Forum Against Oppression of Women, Makaam Women Farmers’ Network, Women and Transgender Organizations Joint Action APS, Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Vimukta Women Collective, Muslim Women’s Forum NCWL, NCHRO, Innocence Network India, Hyderabad Muslim Women’s Forum, Justice Seekers Group, AIMSS, Srijanatmak Manushi Sanstha, NAPM, International Transport Workers’ Federation, Sarkhej Roza Crafts & Women’s collective
Anveshi Hyderabad, Women India Movement, Raiot Collective, Jan Natya Manch, PARI,
Young Farmer’s Movement, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Love Commandos, Campaign Against Hate Speech, Association for Democratic Rights (Punjab), All India Muslim Majlise-Mushawrat, Islami Relief Committee Gujarat, Vidhrohi Mahila Manch, INSAF, National Hawker Federation, Indian Christian Women’s Movement, All India Railway Men’s Federation, Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, People’s Alliance, Social Reform Council for Women, Delhi Science Forum, among other groups.
This letter has also been endorsed by lawyers and advocates like Sr. Adv. Bader Sayeed, Shalini Gera, Nandita Rao, Geeta Ramaseshan, Malvika Rajkotia, Maitreyi Krishnan, Nikita Agarwal, Shalu Nigam, Sangeetha Arunachalam, and Shamina Shafiq, and Shipra Narang. Members of lawyers’ collectives and organisations like Alternative Justice, Alternative Law Forum, All India Lawyer’s Council, All India Lawyer’s Union, Constitution Connect, PUDR, PUCL, Indian Association of Lawyers, Lawyers for Human Rights International, and Human Collective too have come out to express solidarity.
Outrage has been expressed by many academicians, activists, filmmakers and journalists like Uma Chakravarti, Ghazala Jamil, and Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, Ayesha Kidwai, Kavita Krishnan, Zoya Hassan, Nivedita Menon, Rita Manchanda, Ghazala Afshan, Chhaya Datar,
Neeraj Malik, Shirin Rai, Shireen Maswood, Sheba George, Hiren Gandhi, Harsh Mander,
Kalyani Menon Sen, Kalpana Viswanath, Mohan Rao, Urvashi Butalia, Mira Shiva, Rochelle Pinto, Vani Subramanian, Sadhna Arya, Firoza Khan, Jinee Lokaneeta, Manisha Gupte, Susie Tharu, Shohini Ghosh, Ritu Dewan, Lalitha Suhasini, S. Raghunandana, Janaki Abraham,
Pratiksha Baxi, Navsharan Singh, Padma Deosthali, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Surajit
Mazumdar, Chirashree Das Gupta, Khushi Jaffar, Raghavan Rangarajan, Gopika Solanki, and Gyan Prakash among others.
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