Don't Reduce Online Abuse Of Hindu Women To Comments On Bulli Bai Case

What about Hindu women, they face online abuse too? When will the police take action against people who target them? In days after the Bulli Bai case came to light, I have read many such comments on Twitter. The Hindu women justice warriors are crying injustice as (finally) swift action is taken in the latest case of online abuse of Muslim women. But is Bulli Bai case the right time or opportunity to talk about online harassment of Hindu women? Shouldn't the issue be dealt with separately?

As we rang in the New Year, numerous Muslim women - journalists, activists and vocal critics of the right-wing brigade in India, shared that they were "auctioned" on an online app called Bulli Bai - in what appeared to be a rehash of the Sulli Deals case. This was the fourth attempt to intimidate/ shame vocal Muslim women in the online space.

As Khushboo Khan wrote for SheThePeople,"The Bulli Bai app is a nightmare for all the targeted women and attempts to silence us from the public sphere. Here, perpetrators want to intimidate and eventually deter us from shaping the public discourse. "You can read her piece here.

Suggested Reading: Are We Safe In This Country? India,s Muslim Women Ask Amid "Bulli Bai" Harassment

The focus of all conversations on Bulli Bai case should be the radicalisation of young minds in the country, the ease with Muslim women are targeted for their gender and faith, and how the cycle of abuse was repeated four times before any concrete action was taken. What doesn't belong in this conversation is the abuse that Hindu women face on social media - for their faith and gender.

Unlike Bulli Bai, the stories of online abuse of Hindu women were not shared in the first person. There were screenshots and links of some online groups that shared demeaning posts, and indeed, strict action needs to be taken. There needs to be a thorough investigation into any pages or social media handles that dehumanise women and reduce them to objects. The question however is, why did the conversation on abuse of Hindu women only start when Bulli Bai app case came to light? Why weren't alarms about these groups raised consistently through the last year, or before that, by those worried about women's safety?

This approach, of plugging in the plight of a section of women when the plight of another section of women is being addressed does a disservice to all womankind. It deflects attention from the original issue - online abuse of women, targeting of women on basis of their religion, political affiliation or sexuality and reduces it to whataboutery. Championing the rights of Hindu women cannot be achieved as a response to a call for action against the "auctioning" of Muslim women.

Now is the time to listen to Muslim women, address their concerns and applaud them for not backing down despite repeated attacks. Some would argue that the sexual safety of every woman is a priority and thus no group of women should have to wait for their turn at justice - and this is a fair point. But in that case, the call for action from authorities needs to be raised without bringing up the Bulli Bai case. We do not need to rob other women of conversations in order to raise our own voices and quest for justice.

Views expressed are the author's own.