The Reasons Why Islamophobia in India on the Rise
- MoroccoWorldNews
India – The Israel-Hamas war not only affects Palestinians and Israelis, but also many countries indirectly. Support for each side was campaigned in various countries, one is India.Â
In India, there's a significant proof of disinformation campaigns. The campaigns are said to contain Islamophobic content and conflic-related disinformation spread by Indian right-wing influencers.Â
India-based right-wing accounts, including verified users on X, have shared a large several false posts targeting Palestinians and supporting Israel during the escalation of the war in Gaza.
Demo protes islamofobia di India
- AP/Aijaz Rahi
As example, a video claimed to be proof that dozens of Israeli girls had been used as sex slaves by Hamas fighters, when in fact the footage was of Israeli children on a school trip completely unrelated to the conflict.
The video received millions of views before it was examined.
Additionally, a post circulated on a Telegram channel listing the names of ten Indians killed by Hamas, resulting in a flood of abuse and hatred towards Muslims around the world, especially in India.
In response to the video, a user stated that he would like to remove all Muslims from India if he had the chance.
Some time later, members of the channel pointed out that the people killed were Nepalese workers, not Indians.
WhatsApp and Telegram groups in India are currently said to be full of Islamophobic content comparing the situation in Gaza to the Indian context.
For example, a message in a Telegram group showed protests from Indian Muslims against the Israeli military response accompanied by the narrative "only terrorists will support other terrorists and thus India should focus on cleaning up Indian terrorists (referring to Muslims) rather than focusing on terrorists outside,"
Konflik Israel-Palestina
- (Foto AP/Fatima Shbair, File)
In addition, there are instances of WhatsApp messages warning that future attacks could occur in India by "Islamist terrorists" and Hindus should carry weapons to protect themselves.
