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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced expanded support for security training at mosques across the capital following a week of violent anti-Muslim riots across the country, meanwhile in France, a rights group has documented at least 500 raids by French police on Muslim homes in the months leading up to the Paris Olympics, and in the United States, a float slated to appear in New York City’s India Day Parade this weekend is causing an uproar, with community groups calling it a symbol of anti-Muslim hate. Our recommended read of the day is by Ishita Sengupta for New Lines Magazine on how Hindu nationalists have found allies in one part of the Hindi film industry, resulting in the production of “films vilifying Muslims as terrorists, antagonizing Pakistan and making sweeping statements about the ills of Islam.” This and more below:
India
Hindu Nationalism Has Found New Allies in Bollywood | Recommended Read
In 2022, when “The Kashmir Files” was released in India, it generated unprecedented communal euphoria. Set at the start of a long-running separatist insurgency that began in 1989, the Hindi film is about the violent attacks against Kashmiri Pandits, a Hindu minority in the Muslim-majority region, that led to their mass exodus. After the film’s release, social media platforms were filled with videos of audiences raising anti-Muslim slogans in packed theaters, entreating people to “shoot the traitors.” Hindu nationalist activists called for “revenge” against Muslims, while critics panned the film as a propagandist production that painted Muslims as barbaric, exaggerated the death toll of the Pandits and sidestepped the fact that even Kashmiri Muslims were killed during the events. Supporters of the film included Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Hindu nationalist leaders, who lauded it for showing what they said was the “truth” and an overlooked aspect of Kashmir’s history. These two conflicting examples underline the rising polarization in the Hindi film industry over the past decade, since Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ascended to power. The party’s governance has promoted Hindu nationalism, which espouses the cultural and political hegemony of Indian Hindus, who make up 80% of the population. Hard-line Hindu nationalists have found allies in one part of the Hindi film industry. Films vilifying Muslims as terrorists, antagonizing Pakistan and making sweeping statements about the ills of Islam have proliferated. Several filmmakers have been willing to become mouthpieces of the government, prioritizing nationalistic themes and fanning jingoism at the cost of rewriting history and twisting facts. read the complete article
In India, a ‘Hindu’ mosque aims to heal divisions
Last Eid, 49-year-old Partha Sarathi Basu added a fresh coat of paint to the Amanati Mosque in the Barasat district of Bengal, 15 miles north of Kolkata in eastern India. For Basu, the refurbished mosque with its arched gate and two light gray minarets in a Hindu-majority neighborhood isn’t just a shrine to Allah — it’s been part of his family’s identity for more than 50 years. “This place means everything to us,” said Basu. He welcomed Muslim worshippers for their Friday jumah prayers in his starched white tunic with a red dot on his forehead symbolizing his Hindu faith. An imam was brought in to lead prayers, and devotees of all kinds — Hindus, Muslims and Christians — began turning up slowly to pray and light incense sticks under a sacred tree on the premises. “Some people said boycott this Hindu mosque,” said Maulana Akhtar Ali, the imam of the mosque. “But we decided not to allow any political agenda into our religious site.” Ali believes the mosque represents not only Kolkata’s long-standing cultural syncretism but also an answer to the growing intolerance in India toward religious pluralism. For Basu and his family, the dream is to heal divisions that have set communities apart in India. “This isn’t just a mosque for us,” he said. “It’s a pilgrimage center where pilgrims can wander around with no fixed destination in mind or gain some kind of spiritual benefit.” read the complete article
United Kingdom
London mayor boosts security training at mosques after violence
London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday reiterated the city’s dedication to fighting racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism, while announcing expanded support for security training at mosques across the U.K. capital. This initiative comes in response to recent nationwide anti-Muslim riots and disorder that have left many members of minority ethnic communities fearing for their safety. The mayor's safety guarantees include funding for four additional security training sessions at London mosques. These sessions are part of a broader effort to support faith leaders, strengthen community cohesion, and combat hate crimes in the wake of disturbing incidents earlier this month. read the complete article
British man who spat on Muslim bus driver transported to prison
A man has been sentenced to 10 months in prison in the UK for racially abusing and spitting at a Muslim bus driver, authorities said on Tuesday. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that Michael Mongan, 39, “unleashed a tirade of racist abuse and spat at the driver after being denied entry when his payment card was declined” on August 7 in Hayes. In the video that went viral on social media last week, the man is seen repeatedly yelling "Muslim terrorist" and other expletives. He also insisted the driver get off the bus while hitting his protective screen. He was identified and arrested on August 9. “His actions have been connected to the recent scenes of disorder as police and prosecutors believe Mongan was emboldened in his actions by the incidents of violent unrest which unfolded across the country,” the CPS said. read the complete article
France
Police raids, forced evictions and discrimination — the French Muslim experience of the Paris Olympics
Rayan Freschi, a legal expert and rights activist for CAGE International, an advocacy group working with communities affected by the war on terror, has documented at least 500 raids by French police on Muslim homes in the months leading up to the Paris Olympics, during which armed officers often battered down house doors and searched computers, phones and bookshelves for potentially incriminating material. “They don’t have any prior evidence to do this,” he said. “They call it preventative policing.” In the days leading up to the opening ceremony on 26 July, more than 75,000 troops were stationed in Paris — the largest peacetime deployment in French history. Freschi believes the security crackdown in its suburbs, however, was a continuation of growing hostility from the French state to its Muslim citizens. “We’ve seen the systematic closure of Muslim nonprofits, schools and mosques by the government in recent years. The Olympics were used to crack down more,” he said. read the complete article
United States
Float Planned for N.Y.C. India Day Parade Is Condemned as Anti-Muslim
A float slated to appear in New York City’s India Day Parade this weekend is causing an uproar, with community groups calling it a symbol of anti-Muslim hate, parade organizers defending its inclusion and elected officials scrambling to respond. The planned float will include a large-scale model of the Ram Temple, which was built on the disputed site of a 16th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya. The mosque was destroyed in 1992 by Hindu nationalists, which set off widespread violence in the country that killed thousands of people, primarily Muslims. The new temple was dedicated this past January by Narendra Modi, India’s hard-line Hindu nationalist prime minister, at a ceremony that was also followed by widespread anti-Muslim violence. Ankur Vaidya, the chairman of the board of trustees for the group organizing the parade, the Federation of Indian Associations, said on Wednesday that a model of a temple — measuring 8 feet by 8 feet by 16 feet — would be driven down Madison Avenue on the float. But he noted that the model was not being advertised as depicting the temple in Ayodhya. In a letter, a coalition of Muslim American and Indian American groups have asked Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to prevent the float from appearing in the parade. At a news conference on Wednesday, the groups called the float an affront to American values. read the complete article
International
#MeToo unless it's Palestine: Why Western feminists ignore proven Israeli rape of Palestinians
Over the past ten months, the selective empathy of high-profile feminists and feminist organisations in the UK has become increasingly apparent. While swift statements on social media and articles supporting Israeli women are plentiful, there is a notable silence regarding the dire conditions of Palestinian women. The deliberate overlooking of the extensive sexual and reproductive harm inflicted on Palestinian women by the Israeli onslaught is troubling, especially since one would assume this is a primary concern of feminism. Since October 7, hundreds of Palestinian women have been detained in Israeli custody and subjected to inhumane treatment, including sexualised torture, naked beatings, threats of rape, and, in two verified instances, rape. It’s unsettling but not unexpected that there appears to be little sympathy for Arab men, who are often portrayed in deeply rooted racist stereotypes as inherently misogynistic and barbaric. The stark contrast in empathy, whether conscious or unconscious, exposes a blatant bias among high-profile feminists in the UK and contributes to normalising Israel’s actions against Palestinians. The deafening silence from the rest of the feminist community is equally damning; ignoring the horrifying images from Gaza over the past ten months signals a dehumanisation so profound that the suffering has lost its impact. This deliberate focus on superficial issues, while ignoring pressing concerns, signals a loss of direction in the movement and shows that those leading it — many of whom were once trusted — are harbouring anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab racism, and Islamophobia. read the complete article