GitHub shuts down Indian website ‘auctioning’ Muslim women

Quratulain Rehbar, a writer successful India, recovered a illustration of herself connected a website connected Saturday. The leafage was unauthorized, labeled her arsenic up for “auction” and invited radical to bid to ain her.

The fake auction website Bulli Bai, which takes its sanction from a slur against Muslim women, was filled with profiles of dozens who were purportedly for sale. Most were Indian, and immoderate were high-profile figures, specified arsenic the Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. Many were besides opponents of Hindu nationalism who person publically criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attraction of taste and spiritual minorities successful India.

The website, which was built connected the fashionable U.S.-based coding level GitHub, was nary longer accessible Tuesday, aft a burst of online outrage against its misogyny and racism. A GitHub spokesperson said successful an email that it had suspended a idiosyncratic relationship that violated its policies connected harassment, favoritism and the incitement of violence.

Rehbar, who is based successful Indian-controlled Kashmir, is nary alien to fake auction sites that purpose to demean Muslim women by pretending to merchantability them. This past summer, she wrote about a akin platform, which besides took its sanction from a slur astir Muslim women.

“In a spot similar India, 1 could expect [that] thing similar this could happen,” Rehbar said successful an interview. “But it affected maine a spot due to the fact that it affects one’s intelligence peace. You deliberation astir your household and your relatives.”

Authorities person pledged to analyse the incident, which comes arsenic Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party prosecute an docket that emphasizes Hindu primacy successful India — a vast, multireligious ideology founded connected secular ideals.

The auction sites exemplify the “extreme xenophobia and misogyny utilized by Hindu nationalists to foster ascendancy,” said Angana Chatterji, an anthropologist specializing successful Indian authorities astatine the University of California astatine Berkeley.

Police successful Mumbai person detained a antheral successful transportation with Bulli Bai, said Satej D. Patil, a inferior curate successful Maharashtra state, which is governed by the Congress Party that sits successful absorption to the BJP astatine the national level. He said a “large radical of radical who mean to disrupt … communal harmony” could beryllium down the website.

The operators of the fake auction websites aren’t known, but they look to beryllium portion of a “decentralized apparatus of attacks, trolling and vilification of Muslim women,” said Gilles Verniers, a authorities adept astatine Ashoka University successful India. He added attacks connected Muslims were often downplayed oregon tolerated by Indian leaders, galore of whom are BJP members.

The BJP and Modi’s bureau didn’t instantly instrumentality requests for comment. The BJP has said that it acts promptly to negociate spiritual tensions and that reports of hatred crimes against Muslims sometimes bespeak efforts by the media to malign the cardinal government.

There are astir 200 cardinal Muslims successful India, representing astir 14 percent of the country’s population. Many look favoritism successful employment and lodging and fare poorly connected measures of socioeconomic progress. Modi’s authorities has clamped down connected Kashmir, the country’s lone Muslim-majority region, by taking distant its long-standing semi-autonomy. New Delhi has besides passed a citizenship law that galore spot arsenic aimed astatine Muslims successful the country.

Hiba Bég, a Columbia University postgraduate pupil who was targeted by the fake auction websites, wrote connected Twitter that she nary longer felt harmless speaking retired astir the attraction of Muslim women successful India.

“I americium not harmless successful this country. Muslim women similar maine are not harmless successful this country. How galore online deals volition it instrumentality for america to spot action?” she said.