Why India’s Muslim truckers and aid workers fighting Covid-19 face attacks
The Indian government reported a surge in coronavirus cases last week and the identified hotspot was a building housing a Muslim missionary group called the Tablighi Jamaat in New Delhi, the capital city.
For India’s mainstream media and right-wing parties, the outbreak offered an opportunity to demonise the country’s Muslim minority. Twitter soon exploded with a vile hashtag ‘coronajihad,’ insinuating that the upsurge in Covid-19 positives was a Muslim conspiracy against majority-Hindu India. The impact of such a hostile campaign is now squandering the emergency measures the country is taking to battle the spread of the virus.
Reports about angry mobs attacking Muslim truckers, health professionals and emergency rescue workers, who are playing an essential role from transporting supplies to examining people suspected of contracting the virus, are emerging from different parts of the country.…
SEE ALSO
Muslim Truckers ‘Beaten Up’ in Arunachal, Concern Over Supplies of Essential Items (Apr 5, 2020, News18)
Punjab: Muslim Gujjar Families ‘Beaten and Boycotted’ in Hoshiarpur Villages (Apr 7, 2020, The Wire)
https://thewire.in/rights/punjab-muslims-gujjar-families-beaten-and-boycotted-in-hoshiarpur-villages
One held for beating up Dalit man, spreading virus rumours (Apr 11, 2020, Indian Express)
Untouchability, even in quarantine (Apr 12, 2020, The Telegraph)
