Tag: Islamophobia

  • After backlash, Islamophobic film ‘The Kerala Story’ changes figures from 32,000 to just three women

    After backlash, Islamophobic film ‘The Kerala Story’ changes figures from 32,000 to just three women

    Indian director Sudipto Sen’s upcoming film ‘The Kerala Story’ has attracted widespread backlash for claiming to represent the stories of 32,000 women from the state who were lured into converting to Islam by Muslim men and then taken to Afghanistan to join militant outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

    The trailer for the movie debuted online on November 3 last year. It opens with the story of Fathima Ba (played by Adah Sharma), who is a Hindu Malayali nurse and claimed to be one of the 32,000 Hindu and Christian women who were abducted and sent to Afghanistan. Since then, the film has been criticized by Indian politicians such as Congress leader and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan for spreading misinformation that would only further marginalise the Muslims living in India:

    “The film is a bundle of lies. It says 32,000 women were converted and sent to Islamic State-held areas. Its trailer gave enough hints of its content. It is intended to defame the state and community and Sangh Parivar outfits are behind this.”

    Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan released a statement on 30 April where he slammed Sen for pushing the so-called claim of ‘love-jihad’ through the film, a conspiracy theory pushed by Hindutva members which alleges that Muslim men lure Hindu and Christian women through seduction or kidnapping to convert them into Islam. He further accused the filmmaker of threatening religious harmony by “sowing the seeds of communalism” through the debunked claim that 32,000 women were kidnapped from India and handed over to ISIS.

    “In the movie trailer, we see a hoax that 32,000 women in Kerala were converted and became members of the Islamic State. This bogus story is a product of the Sangh Parivar’s lie factory.”

    The central controversy surrounding the film was it’s claim that 32,000 women were forcibly converted to Islam in Kerala and were sent to ISIS, which has been debunked by several credible publications to be untrue. But speaking to India Today, the producer of the film, Vipul Shah, said that the focus was not the numbers, but the fact that forced conversions are still happening throughout India:

    “We don’t want to get into the debate on the numbers, we want to talk about the issue. We want to bring notice to the human tragedy happening in Kerala and in India.”

    Actor Adah Sharma also defended the movie’s false pretext, by telling India Today that she had spoken to the women who inspired the story:

    “I spoke to some of these women. There will be testimony from those who will be brave enough to come in front of cameras.”

    Politicians like Shashi Tharoor have also slammed the filmmakers for spreading misinformation regarding the 32,000 figure, and addressed it in a lengthy Twitter post where he also said that his 2021 tweet was not proof that the allegations of the filmmakers were real:

    “Many are spreading this 2021 tweet of mine as if it undermines my present objections to the trailer & publicity for “The Kerala Story”. Yes, I was approached then by three Kerala mothers and was aware of a fourth, and I was open about my concerns about their daughters’ radicalisation. But four cases are a far cry from the 32,000 that the film-makers are alleging. If there really were so many ISIS female members from Kerala, that would mean double the number when you count their husbands, whereas even Western intelligence sources says the number of ALL Indians in ISIS does not approach three figures. This gross exaggeration and distortion of the Kerala reality is what I am objecting to.”

    In a tweet posted on Monday, Tharoor offered Rs1 crore to anyone who would be able to prove that 32,000 women had been forcibly converted and sent to ISIS.

    ALT News, in an investigative piece, revealed that the director Sudipto Sen had first mentioned the figure on a Youtube channel ‘The Festival Of Bharat” where he talked about how he calculated the final number, with the help of a speech delivered by the former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy:

    “In 2010, former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy put a report in front of Kerala assembly. In front of my camera, he denied that anything had happened. But in 2010, I documented a case where he (Chandy) said that every year approximately 2,800 to 3,200 girls were taking up Islam. Just calculate it for the following 10 years, and the number is around 32,000.”

    When the publication spoke to Sen on the phone, the author Shinjinee Majumder writes, the director claimed that he picked the number up from an article published by ‘The Times Of India”:

    “This figure (32,000) is not mine. It was a piece of news in The Times of India… one thing I can tell you is that Oommen Chandy, the chief minister of Kerala, had placed this number in the state assembly. So this is not my number, I have got all the documents with me.”

    However, no publication quoting such a large number has come to light. But ALT News reports that in 2012, India Today reported the Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy informing the state minister about how 2,667 young women had converted to Islam between 2006 to 2012. Especially, Chandy had said that there was no evidence of forced conversions in the state, and the fears of ‘love jihad’ were baseless.

    When ANI news shared this report with Sen, his response was:

    “Let the intolerance reach a crescendo. I’ll share my data after the film is released. Why should I defeat the cause of my film?”

    Similarly, Kerala Police had also refuted the claims that 32,000 women had been sent to Syria as “totally baseless”.

    While a report published in 2020 by the United States Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism said that there were only 66 known Indian-origin fighters associated with ISIS in 2020, of which 34 terrorism cases were related to ISIS and NIA arrested 160 people by the end of September.

    Moreover, The Hindu reported in June 2021 that four Indian women were traced in an Afghanistani prison, who had travelled with their husbands to join the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), and it was unlikely that they would come back to India.

    As a response to the growing backlash, the film trailer has now changed the title description from 32,000 women to just three young girls, as shared by several Twitter users.

    With the film set to release on 5 May and despite calls to authorities to ban the film on grounds of hate speech and misinformation, NDTV reported today that the Indian Supreme Court had refused to entertain a petition to seek a stay on the release of ‘The Kerala Story’ because it had been cleared by the censor board:

    “There are varieties of hate speeches. This film has got certification and has been cleared by the board. It’s not like a person getting on the podium and starts giving uncontrolled speech. If you want to challenge the release of the movie, you should challenge the certification and through appropriate forum”.

  • Islamophobia? Imam stabbed while leading Fajr prayers in American mosque

    Islamophobia? Imam stabbed while leading Fajr prayers in American mosque

    An imam was stabbed during Fajr prayers in Paterson, New Jersey, on Sunday, Geo has reported. The attacker was apprehended by worshippers present at the scene. The imam, Elnakib, is presently receiving medical treatment for a punctured lung and is in stable condition, as per local officials.

    “Imam Sayed Elnakib was stabbed during the first prayer of the day, around 5:30am, at Omar Mosque in south Paterson while the congregation was kneeling for prayer,” said mosque spokesperson Abdul Hamdan.
    Reportedly, the individual accused of the attack was present among the 200 worshippers praying at the mosque on Sunday.

    Mayor Andre Sayegh of New Jersey said that he paid a visit to the imam, who was in a better condition than before. Sayegh disclosed that Elnakib was receiving medical attention for a punctured lung, and that the attacker has been arrested, though the reason behind the attack is not yet evident.

  • Canada appoints Amira Elghawaby as the first Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia

    Canada appoints Amira Elghawaby as the first Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia

    n a first for Canada, the country has appointed Amira Elghawaby as the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the development on Thursday in a statement, stating that this was done to improve government efforts in offering advice on policy making or programs to improve the lives of Muslims living in Canada.
    “Diversity truly is one of Canada’s greatest strengths, but for many Muslims, Islamophobia is all too familiar. We need to change that. No one in our country should experience hatred because of their faith,” he said.
    Trudeau further added that Elghawaby’s position “is an important step in our fight against Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms. I look forward to working with her as we continue building a country where everyone feels safe and respected.”
    Elghawaby is a Muslim journalist who is a contributing columnist for the Toronto Star newspaper, and also works at Canadian Race Relations Foundation. She also serves as a board member for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a non-profit that tracks the rise of hate crimes committed towards minorities in Canada.
    On Twitter, Elghawaby thanked Trudeau and the Canadian government, promising that she would use her platform to ensure that the interests of Canadian Muslims are represented on the national platform.
    “It is my honour to serve in this role. I want to thank the Prime Minister of Canada @JustinTrudeau for working to fight Islamophobia and to ensure Canadian institutions from coast to coast to coast are inclusive of Canadian Muslims, and all people.”
    “I look forward to meeting with elected officials, policymakers, and community leaders across the country to amplify the voices of Canadian Muslims and work together to fight discrimination and hate in all its forms.”

  • Pakistan calls for ‘Global Action Plan’ against Islamophobia

    Pakistan calls for ‘Global Action Plan’ against Islamophobia

    Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, talked about the importance of “continued and robust inter-religious, inter-civilisational and inter-faith dialogue as a catalyst to promote peaceful co-existence, mutual understanding, and harmony,” while addressing the ninth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC).

    UNAOC was hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco in the city of Fez on November 22-23, 2022. Khar expressed Pakistan’s viewpoint and concerns over the global problem of religious intolerance, discrimination, Islamophobia.

    She also brought the delegates’ attention to the state-driven prejudice, animosity, and phobia against Muslims and Islam, as well as the resulting environment of impunity for such atrocious acts.

    “Given its pervasive and widely documented impacts, it is time for the international community and the United Nations to formulate an action plan to meaningfully address the insidious phenomenon of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred,” she said.
    The UN Alliance of Civilizations was established in 2005 as a result of the tensions that developed between the Muslim world and the West in the wake of 9/11. Promoting tolerance for different cultures, customs, and religious beliefs is one of its main goals.

  • ‘Rise above national politics, deafening’: Mehwish Hayat calls out Bollywood biggies amidst flood crises

    ‘Rise above national politics, deafening’: Mehwish Hayat calls out Bollywood biggies amidst flood crises

    Actor Mehwish Hayat took to her Twitter handle to condemn Bollywood bigwigs for maintaining silence on the flood crises in Pakistan.

    The London Nahi Jaunga diva shared that she’s disappointed by Bollywood celebrities for their lack of support for Pakistan at a time when the country is facing devastating floods while celebrities across the world were expressing concern like Bella Hadid and Engin Altan.

    Mehwish took to her Instagram Stories to share a note by journalist Haroon Rashid, who hosts a show on BBC. Acknowledging his post and calling his point ‘valid’, she wrote, “The silence from the Bollywood fraternity is deafening.

    In his original post, Haroon had said, “I genuinely thought humanity knows no borders but it’s telling that hardly any Bollywood stars have posted about the devastating floods in Pakistan – raise awareness, share links, just show sympathy. They know how popular they are and how much that acknowledgment would mean.”

    Pakistan is in a state of national emergency with over 1,200 dead, over 12,000 injured and tens of millions displaced.

    Mehwish said, ‘Suffering knows no nationality, race, or religion – no better time for them to show us that they can rise above nationalist politics and care about their fans in Pakistan. We are hurting and a kind word or two would not go amiss.”

    Last November, Hayat spoke out against the stereotypical and problematic portrayal of Muslims in major Bollywood films.

    The Tamgha-e-Imtiaz recipient turned to her Instagram stories to call out Rohit Shetty’s latest directorial Sooryavanshi.

    Sooryavanshi is promoting Islamophobia: Mehwish Hayat

    The Punjab Nahi Jaungi star also urged Bollywood to ‘build bridges’ not ‘hatred’ in their movies.

  • ‘Foreign minister’s views interpreted out of context’: FO says no change in Pakistan’s policy on India

    ‘Foreign minister’s views interpreted out of context’: FO says no change in Pakistan’s policy on India

    Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson has said in a statement that Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks on India were being “interpreted out of context and portrayed incorrectly”.

    “There is no change in Pakistan’s policy on India on which there is a national consensus. Pakistan has always desired cooperative relations with all its neighbours, including India. We have consistently advocated constructive engagement and result-oriented dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, including the core Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” the statement said.

    “India’s unabated hostility and retrogressive steps, however, have vitiated the environment and impeded the prospects of peace and cooperation. The onus, therefore, remains on India to take the necessary steps to create an enabling environment conducive to meaningful and result-oriented dialogue,” the FO statement said.

    Bilawal clearly articulated this perspective, “referring to India’s illegal and unilateral actions in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJK) since 5 August 2019, describing them as an assault on the rights of the Kashmiri people, as well as rising Islamophobia in India, that created an environment unconducive for meaningful engagement,” it added.

    “The foreign minister’s remarks are better understood in the overall context of his key message of conflict resolution that he emphasised in his address at the think-tank event,” the FO statement concluded.

    ‘Does it serve our objective that we have practically cut off all engagements with India?’: Bilawal Bhutto

    Bilawal advocated for re-engagement with India asking whether cutting ties with India served the country’s interests.

    “Does it serve our interests, do we achieve our objectives whatever they may be, be it Kashmir, be it rising Islamophobia, the Hindutva supremacist nature of the new regimes and the governments in India? Does it serve our objective that we have practically cut off all engagements,” asked Bilawal while speaking at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad.

    Bilawal identified India and the United States (US) as countries with which Pakistan’s relations were problematic.

    The foreign minister contended that if Pakistan had achieved economic engagement with India in the past, it would have been in a better position to influence Delhi’s policy and prevented both countries from taking extreme positions.

    In May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached out to Bilawal soon after he took the foreign minister’s office and invited him to a food security conference. The two also met in New York on the sidelines of the forum.

  • Five injured in mosque shooting in Canada

    Five injured in mosque shooting in Canada

    According to police sources, five individuals were injured in a mosque shooting in Toronto, Canada reports TRT.

    As per details, a group of men, who had finished midnight prayers were randomly attacked on Saturday in a drive-by shooting in the Scarborough district.

    According to Toronto Police Department spokesperson David Rydzik, at least six rounds were fired, although the number of suspects engaged in the incident is unknown.

    “We are unable to say whether the victims were targeted because of their religious beliefs,” said Rydzik.

    Meanwhile, Scarborough Muslim Association board member Nadeem Sheikh is concerned and has expressed alarms about the shooting.

    He urged authorities to do their best to bring the perpetrators before authorities and said more steps should be taken to curb gun violence.

  • ‘Amazed that the sex crimes, child abuse, rape fastest growing crime in Pakistan’: PM Khan tells OIC

    ‘Amazed that the sex crimes, child abuse, rape fastest growing crime in Pakistan’: PM Khan tells OIC

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said, “We have failed both the Palestinians and the people of Kashmir. I am sad to say that we have been able to make no impact at all.”

    The premier delivered a keynote address at the inaugural session of the 48th Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the Parliament House in Islamabad on Tuesday.

    “We (Muslims) are 1.5 billion people and yet our voice to stop this blatant injustice is insignificant.”

    “Why was Islam equated with terrorism?” questioned PM Imran

    The premier began his speech by congratulating the Muslim world for the recent adoption of a resolution against Islamophobia by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), that proclaims March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

    “Why was Islam equated with terrorism?” Imran questioned, and referred to the Christchurch attack on a mosque as a consequence of this stereotyping.

    “Once that happens, how is the man in the street in Western countries, how is he supposed to differentiate between a moderate Muslim and a radical Muslim? Hence, this man walks into a mosque and shoots everyone he could.”

    “What should have been done wasn’t; the heads of Muslim countries should have taken a stand on this. Unfortunately, this narrative of Islamic terrorism, Islamic radicalisation, this narrative went on unchecked.”

    India does not feel any pressure

    The premier said that the international community promised the Kashmiris the right to decide their destiny through a plebiscite. That right was never given to them, he stated.

    He said that it was because India does not feel any pressure.

    PM Imran Khan asked the OIC nations to have a united front or else these abuses will continue.

    The world is “headed in the wrong way”

    In response to this wave of Islamophobia, PM Imran said, some Muslim heads of state said they were moderate Muslims. “When you say this, you automatically say there are some extremist Muslims.”

    The premier also spoke about the global situation, expressing his apprehension that the world is “headed in the wrong way”.

    A new Cold War had almost started and the world could be divided into blocs, he said, stressing that unless 1.5bn Muslims took a united stand, “we will be nowhere.”

    He said it was “extremely important” to stabilise Afghanistan because it was the “only way we are going to be able to stop international terrorism from Afghan soil”.

    “Let’s not be delusional that some other country can come in and fight terrorism through drones. The only way is a stable Afghanistan government that can take care of terrorism.

    “Anyone who knows the Afghan character should be cautioned, please do not push the people of Afghanistan where they feel their sovereignty is being threatened.”

    Pakistan has an increased divorce rate, rising vulgarity, which is because the more society gets permissive, the more it has a direct impact on the family system

    The premier said that when he became the prime minister of Pakistan he asked the police chief about the crime chart.

    “I was amazed to see that the sex crimes, child abuse, and rape are the fastest growing crime in this country.”

    PM Imran Khan went on to say that Pakistan has an increased divorce rate, rising vulgarity, which is because the more society gets permissive, the more it has a direct impact on the family system.

    He said that one of the most important things about Islam is that it protects the family system, it has values like respecting parents and teachers.

    “But [with] the culture that is coming through social media, we really need to think how we are going to protect our generations,” PM Imran Khan said.

    Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi welcomed the OIC foreign ministers to the conference and said that it is a matter of pride for Pakistan to host the 48th session in 2022, which marks the 77th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence.

    “The OIC is the collective voice of nearly two billion Muslims. It is the bridge among the Muslim nations and between the Muslim world and the international community,” he said.

  • Kuwaiti parliamentarians demand ban on the entry of India’s BJP members

    Parliamentarians of Kuwait have demanded an immediate ban on the entry of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members into the country.

    Al Sharikal, who is a Kuwaiti lawyer, posted a letter on Twitter addressed to the parliament to stop BJP members from entering Kuwait.

    He wrote, “A group of powerful Kuwaiti parliamentarians have demanded the govt of Kuwait to put an immediate ban on the entry of any member of the ruling BJP of India into Kuwait. We can’t sit back and watch Muslim girls being publicly persecuted they said. Time for the Ummah to unite.”

    This tweet was also reshared by Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor.

    He wrote, “Domestic actions have international repercussions. I hear from friends across the Gulf of their dismay at rising Islamophobia in India &the PM’s unwillingness to condemn it, let alone act decisively against it. “We like India. But don’t make it so hard for us to be your friends”.

    This retweet was highly criticised by the Indian Embassy in Kuwait and dupped as an “anti-national” tweet by a “Pakistani agent.”

    Recently, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also condemned the recent incidents of the genocide of Muslims by the Hindutva groups in India.

    It said, “The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation expresses deep concern over recent public calls for genocide of Muslims by the Hindutva proponents in Haridwar in the State of Uttarakhand and reported incidents of harassment of Muslim women on social media sites as well as banning of Muslim girl students from wearing hijab in the State of Karnataka.”

  • Fact Check: Did SRK really spit on Lata Mangeshkar’s dead body?

    Fact Check: Did SRK really spit on Lata Mangeshkar’s dead body?

    Claim: Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan spat on legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar’s funeral

    Fact: SRK did not spit at Lata Mangeshkar’s funeral

    Lata Mangeshkar, the nightingale of India, was cremated in Mumbai with full state honours on Sunday.

    Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and many Bollywood stars attended the funeral. Large crowds gathered to pay their respects and people on social media platforms across the world also paid their tribute to the legendary singer.

    A video in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was present there along with his manager, can be seen reading a Dua and then blowing it at her corpse. A typical ritual for prayers in Islam.

    However, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Arun Yadav accused SRK of spitting on Lata’s body. BJP-affiliated accounts and Hindutva trolls were called out for spreading Islamophobia and targeting Muslims.

    VERDICT: FALSE