Tamil Nadu is the only state who created detention camp for foreign Tablighi Jamaat members

Families claim they have not spoken to their relatives detained in a detention camp in Tamil Nadu since April 11. Rights advocates say this detention is unconstitutional. In the first week of March, 25-year-old Mukhtar and his wife Fhedya had traveled from Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, to India’s capital, New Delhi. The couple had planned to spend a few days at the ongoing Tablighi Jamaat gathering, organised at its global headquarter in the Nizamuddin Markaz, before heading down south to Tamil Nadu. The couple was to return…

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‘Do not buy from Muslims Vendors’: BJP leader calls for social boycott

India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a notice to one of its leaders after a video showing him asking people not to buy vegetables from Muslims surfaced amid a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. “Keep one thing in mind. I am telling everyone openly. There is no need to buy vegetables from ‘miyans’ [Muslims],” legislator Suresh Tiwari from Deoria town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh was heard saying in the mobile phone video that went viral on Tuesday. Millions in India are facing unprecedented job losses and hunger…

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Are gulf ties being jeopardised by Hindutva hatred?

In his six years as prime minister, Narendra Modi has expended more time, effort and commitment to cultivating ties with the Gulf region than any of his predecessors, and India’s initiatives have been fully reciprocated by his regional counterparts. These interactions have been assiduously promoted with frequent exchanges of visits, warm expressions of personal goodwill, even affection and several agreements to impart substance to the relationship in political, energy and economic areas. Now, when the world is grappling with the extraordinary challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic, relations shaped, elevated…

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How the coronavirus outbreak in India was blamed on Muslims

The COVID-19 pandemic has been turned into yet another Islamophobic conspiracy theory. The outbreak of COVID-19 in India has presented yet another opportunity to launch a fresh attack on the Muslim community. Physical, verbal and psychological warfare is being waged against Muslims, pushing further their ostracisation in Indian society. Violent attacks on Muslims perceived to be carriers of the virus have been reported from different parts of the country. There have been reports of meetings in gated communities discussing the prohibition on Muslims being allowed in. Elsewhere, gangs of youth…

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