Bhat Yasir
Pictures of hundreds of Muslim women were collected from their social media accounts and then uploaded on an application and then encourage users to participate in the auction of these women. Among these women was Qurat ul Ain Rehbar of Kashmir.
It was through a journalist friend that Kashmir-based journalist Qurat-ul-Ain Rehbar got to know that her name and picture had featured among other Muslim women’s names for ‘auctioning’ on the app ‘Bulli Bai.’ “She called and informed me that my name had featured in a list that she had come across,” Qurat told The Kashmiriyat.
Qurat says that she had previously reported on the ‘Sulli Deals’ auction in the month of July last year. She said that she was shocked to see her photograph on the app and that she had never expected such a thing could happen to her.
She said that her throat felt heavy and that she had goosebumps. She went numb on seeing her photograph, she said.
Last year I wrote about how muslim women's pictures were auctioned online where women felt haunted and humiliated. Today, after a year seeing my own picture in another trend #bullideals, besides other muslim womens', makes me feel utmost disgusting. https://t.co/AE0N1sInE2
— Quratulain Rehbar (@ainulrhbr) January 1, 2022
On Saturday, the first day of the New Year, an app called “Bulli Bai” came to surface with pictures of a number of Muslim women including journalists, social workers, students, and famous personalities. The derogatory app was a platform to ‘auction’ these Muslim women. The app was taken down on Saturday itself.
It is pertinent to mention that six months earlier, in July 2020, a similar platform ‘Sulli Deals’ had emerged, where around eighty Muslim women who are vocal about minority rights were targeted and ‘auctioned.’
Both these apps were created on the platform ‘Github.’ A Twitter handle with the same name, i.e., @bullibai promoted the app and said that these women could be booked from the app. Two FIRs were lodged against unknown people, back then but no arrests were made.
Over the past couple of years, as the anti-muslim laws such as the Citizenship Amendment Act were brought in, Muslim women have been on the forefront resisting the discrimination that Muslims have been subjected to. Shaheen Bagh, which is also known to be the inspiration for the Farmer’s Protest, was led by Muslim women.
“Also, it is an attempt to silence those who are vocal and talk about the minorities” Qurat said to The Kashmiriyat.
“But what could one expect from filthy men out there who have such mindset?” Qurat said, adding that it was an attack not just against her but an attack against Islam and Muslim women.
Meanwhile, The Wire journalist Ismat Ara, whose name was also put up in the derogatory app that ‘auctioned’ Muslim women, filed a complaint with the Delhi police cyber wing. After which, the Delhi police registered an FIR invoking various sections of the IPC.
UPDATE: A complaint has been filed by me with the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police for immediate registration of FIR and consequent action against people behind the auctioning of Muslim women on social media. #sullideals #BulliDeals @DelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/oX3ROLEgv1
— Ismat Ara (@IsmatAraa) January 1, 2022
Another complaint was filed by Sidrah, another woman who was targeted by the app for being vocal, in Mumbai.
The Union IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that the GoI was working with the concerned police in the matter.
Govt. of India is working with police organisations in Delhi and Mumbai on this matter. https://t.co/EOLUb0FlQe
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) January 2, 2022
However, netizens are aghast since no action was taken the last time, and there are hardly any expectations from the police or the government this time either.
But this was done even in case of #SulliDeals too. NOTHING CAME OUT. People who created the app in june last year were bragging on twitter (@sullideals & @sdfrgt4rf) that they created it. Did @DelhiPolice locate them? NO?
Our investigation on #SulliDeals https://t.co/uDKXMShfu5— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 2, 2022
The collective anger of Muslim women you're witnessing on your timelines today comes from a place of deep anguish– of being exoticised, demonised, and patronised, all at once. Experiences ranging from being constantly talked down upon, to being sold online. #BulliDeals
— Fatima Khan (@khanthefatima) January 1, 2022
Meanwhile, Qurat said that it is only her brother in her family, who knows about it. “I can’t tell my family because my profession itself is very hectic and they often worry about it. So I don’t want to worry them,” Qurat said.
She also said that there was no point of filing an FIR alone. Many of the victim women have given a statement, she said, and that they might give a collective statement or she could give a statement, too, when she had to.
The incident, which left the targeted women in a state of shock and despair, invoked widespread condemnation from various Indian politicians.
The Journalist Federation of Kashmir, on Sunday, released a statement in solidarity with Qurat-ul-Ain Rehbar and the other Muslim women who were targeted through the app, saying that the systematic abuse, dehumanization and patronizing of these women were a testimony to the fact that they were surely “frustrating the forces and power centres they spoke and wrote against.”
JFK strongly condemns the online bullying and auctioning of #Muslim women, which this time has included one of our brave colleagues, Quratulain Rehbar (@ainulrhbr). This systematic abuse, demonization and patronising of these brave women are a testimony…
1/2 #BulliDeals
— Journalist Federation of Kashmir (@pressfreedomJFK) January 2, 2022
“You know everything in Kashmir is already taking a toll on our mental health,” Qurat said, adding that the harassment had severely affected her mental well-being. “But I am trying to be strong,” said Qurat.
Meanwhile, on Monday, it came to the fore that the Mumbai Police Cyber Cell has detained a 21-year-old engineering student from Bengaluru in connection with ‘BulliBai’ app.
Mumbai Police has not revealed the identity of the suspect detained from Bengaluru yet, except for his age. Police have registered a case against unknown culprits under relevant sections of IPC and the IT Act, ANI reported