Search
SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, details from a new CAIR report show that nearly half of Muslim students surveyed at California colleges and universities have faced harassment or discrimination on campus this year, meanwhile in India, to unseat a coalition of opposing parties, the BJP has began labeling Muslims in the state of Jhakhand has ‘Bangladeshi Infiltrators’, while a new online video produced by the BJP in advance of the elections in Jhakhand has surfaced which many are calling blatantly anti-Muslim. Our recommended read of the day is by Aine Fox for The Independent on how a new survey by Tell MAMA, a nonprofit monitoring group, found a majority of British Muslims feel Islamophobia has become more widespread since the summer riots. This and more below:
United Kingdom
Most Muslims feel Islamophobia has become more widespread summer riots | Recommended Read
A majority of Muslims feel Islamophobia and hate against them has become more widespread since the summer riots, but around half also feel able to be more open about their identity, according to a survey. Tell Mama, a charity monitoring such incidents, said its latest survey indicated that one in two of those asked said they had become more open, mainly through conversations with friends and colleagues, about their Muslim identity after the violence which erupted following the Southport attack. The organisation analysed, as part of the annual No2H8 campaign, the opinions of 750 Muslims across the UK eight weeks after disorder broke out in parts of England and Northern Ireland following the fatal stabbings of three young girls in Southport. Tell Mama said just under three-quarters (71%) felt anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia had become more widespread since the unrest. Almost two-thirds (62%) said the potential risk of harm to Muslim communities had since increased significantly or somewhat. read the complete article
India
BJP ordered to take down campaign video stigmatising Muslims
India’s ruling BJP party has been told to take down an election campaign video depicting Muslims taking over a house in India for breaching the Commission’s code of conduct. read the complete article
‘Cow Vigilantes’ in India Are Attacking Muslims and Posting It on Instagram
On August 27, Sabir Malik, a migrant worker in the Indian state of Haryana, was lured from his home and beaten to death by a mob of at least 10 Hindu men. They suspected that Malik, a Muslim, had eaten beef. Lab tests run by local police would later find that he hadn’t. But it didn’t matter: The attack was led by “cow vigilantes,” the name for Hindu nationalist militias and mobs that take it upon themselves to violently enforce Hindu supremacy on India’s minority communities, particularly Muslims. A new report from the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) shared exclusively with WIRED found that Instagram, which is owned by Meta, is becoming a key avenue for cow vigilantes to share their violent exploits with a wider audience, and even raise money. “It's clear that Meta is complicit in the proliferation or the flourishing of cow vigilantism in India,” says Raqib Hameed Naik, founder and executive director of CSOH. These practices, Naik says, are likely in violation of Meta’s own policies around hateful and violent content. Between February and August 2024, CSOH identified and analyzed 1,023 Instagram accounts run by users involved in cow vigilantism. Researchers found that 30 percent of the accounts shared content showing physical violence against Muslims involved in the cattle business. read the complete article
In India’s tribal-dominated Jharkhand, BJP labels Muslims as ‘Bangladeshis’
Sitting at a dusty roadside tea stall with his friends in Bada Sanakad village in the tribal-dominated eastern Indian state of Jhakhand, Abdul Gafur is furious. “Who says we are Bangladeshi infiltrators? Hear me out, we are the registered citizens of India. To date, God knows how many of our generations have passed away on this land. So, do not insult our ancestors by calling us infiltrators,” said the 46-year-old farmer, as nearly a dozen of his companions, most of them Muslims, nodded in agreement. Gafur is a Muslim, a community in Jharkhand that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been painting as “Bangladeshi infiltrators” for months as it seeks to unseat a coalition of opposition parties, led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), in the two-phase state assembly election that started on November 13. The bogey of a Bangladeshi infiltrator is not unfamiliar in India, especially since Modi came to power in 2014 on a Hindu majoritarian agenda. What first started as a demonisation of the mainly-Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh metamorphosed into a broader campaign against Muslims in India’s northeast, especially in the state of Assam, home to millions of Bengali-speaking Muslims. read the complete article
BJP faces backlash over 'Islamophobic' campaign video in Jharkhand elections
An online video advertisement associated with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has faced widespread criticism for promoting anti-Muslim sentiment. Released on Saturday as part of an election campaign in eastern India’s Jharkhand state, the video sparked outrage during ongoing state assembly elections. The first phase of voting took place on 13 November, with the second phase scheduled for 20 November and results to be announced on 23 November. The controversy stems from the advert's depiction of Muslims entering the home of an opposition supporter. A woman is shown gesturing as if the newcomers bring an unpleasant odour, while Muslim children dirty the furniture, and women fully covered in hijabs and niqabs appear to take over the house. The video provoked strong condemnation, with critics accusing the ruling BJP of stoking hatred against Muslims and other minority groups. "Modi’s BJP is using Islamophobic propaganda for election campaigning. India’s Election Commission has become too subservient to Modi to stop this madness," Indian-Swedish academic Ashok Swain said in a post on X. In response to the controversy, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered the removal of the video from the BJP’s social media platforms on Sunday, stating that it appeared to violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in place during the elections. The ECI directed Jharkhand's Chief Electoral Officer to ensure the video was taken down, and the BJP has since removed the ad from all online platforms. read the complete article
United States
Half of Muslim college students in CA facing harassment, discrimination: CAIR report
Nearly half of Muslim students surveyed at California colleges and universities have faced harassment or discrimination on campus this year. It's just one troubling statistic from the latest Council on American-Islamic Relations Campus Climate report. A school should be a place where students can learn and live in peace. But many Muslim students experience a very different reality on California campuses, including Stanford University student Iman Deriche. "I remember the first day after October 7, receiving a phone call from my father telling me to stay inside, lock my doors and be careful when I'm walking around campus," Deriche said. "I didn't understand at first, but just after one week, his suggestions became a necessary part of my daily routine. The fear and anxiety I experience every time I leave my dorm has been overwhelming since last year." It's the same Islamophobia that a majority of 720 students surveyed from 87 California colleges and universities feel, according to the 2024 Council on American-Islamic Relations Campus Climate report. "Unfortunately, the numbers paint a troubling picture," CAIR-SFBA senior civil rights attorney Jeffrey Wang said. "Islamophobia has become persistent, pervasive and normalized in colleges across the nation and our Muslim students are paying the price," CAIR-SFBA policy coordinator Musa Tariq said. read the complete article
Harris’s Gaza Policy Was a Disaster on Every Level
One of the most hotly debated questions of the 2024 campaign was what impact the Biden administration’s disastrous and malicious handling of the genocide in Gaza would have on Democrats’ ability to hold the White House. Now that the election is over, and Donald Trump has won, we are beginning to have more definitive answers to that question. By now it is clear that Trump was able to capitalize upon broad, mass discontent with the administration on a litany of economic and political fronts, while Kamala Harris was saddled with the baggage of Joe Biden’s image and policy program. Trump won every single battleground state that ultimately decided the election; he could have lost both Michigan and Wisconsin and still won the presidency. Clearly, Gaza alone does not explain such a sweeping victory. But even so, the evidence shows that Harris’s failure to break with Biden’s policy of unconditional support to Israel came with a political cost—one that was higher than many had expected. read the complete article