 "'Bulli Bai' row on social media: App designed to 'auction' off Muslim women and the outrage that it has caused")
The New Year began on a controversial note when photographs of more than 100 Muslim women, including prominent actor Shabana Azami, wife of a sitting judge of Delhi High Court, multiple journalists, activists and politicians, were uploaded for auction on an app. The row surrounding the app named ‘Bulli Bai’ is similar to last July’s ‘Sulli Deals’, in which nearly 80 Muslim women were put up ‘for sale’. Take a look at what the row is all about and how people reacted to the app. ‘Bulli Bai’ app The ‘Bulli Bai’ app was created on the Microsoft-owned open software development site GitHub. For those who don’t know, ‘Bulli’ is a derogatory word used for Muslim women in local slang. Twitter has suspended an account that had been sharing links to the app hosted on GitHub. The Twitter handle had the same name as the objectionable app. Earlier in June 2021, another app with a name similar to the one currently under investigation had appeared on GitHub with pictures of Muslim women captioned ‘deal of the day’. Subsequently, on 7 and 8 July, police in Noida and Delhi had registered separate FIRs against unknown persons in the case, but nothing has come out of the investigations so far. The incident went viral when a woman journalist shared an image of her being sold on the Bulli Bai app as ‘deal of the day’. Taking to Twitter, the journalist said it was “very sad that as a Muslim woman you have to start your new year with this sense of fear & disgust.” Quratulain Rehbar, a journalist from Kashmir, was also listed on the ‘online auction’. She was quoted as telling Al Jazeera: “When I saw my photograph, my throat got heavy, I had goosebumps on my arms and I was numb. It was shocking and humiliating."
Last year I wrote about how muslim women's pictures were auctioned online where women felt haunted and humiliated. Today, after a year seeing my own picture in another trend #bullideals, besides other muslim womens', makes me feel utmost disgusting. https://t.co/AE0N1sInE2
— Quratulain Rehbar (@ainulrhbr) January 1, 2022
Ismar Ara, a journalist based in New Delhi, filed a complaint on Saturday with the Delhi Police after she found herself as part of the ‘auction’. Based on her complaint, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered by Delhi Cyber Police on Sunday, invoking various sections of the Indian Penal Code that pertain to promoting enmity on grounds of religion, threatening national integration and sexual harassment of women.
UPDATE: An FIR has been registered by Cyber Police (South East Delhi) on the basis of my complaint with IPC sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 354A & 509 for sexual harassment. #BulliDeals pic.twitter.com/dJ1mspyiGI
— Ismat Ara (@IsmatAraa) January 2, 2022
What are authorities doing? The Information and Technology Ministry reacting to the news, took action against its creators and an FIR has been lodged by the Delhi Police in this connection. Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted late on Saturday to inform that action has been taken and the GitHub user behind the `Bulli Bai` app had been blocked and “further action” was being coordinated. “GitHub confirmed blocking the user this morning itself. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Police authorities are coordinating further action,” Vaishnaw said. The Mumbai Police has also taken cognisance of the matter and concerned officials have been asked to take action. Maharashtra’s minister of state for home and information & technology Satej Patil told Times of India that the authorities had taken serious cognisance of the misogyny and communal hatred towards women from the Muslim community. Outrage over the app Political leaders have voiced their anger towards the app and many have demanded for strict action. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, “The insult of women and communal hatred will only stop when you stand against it in one voice, and the year has changed, so change your fate and it’s time to speak up.”
महिलाओं का अपमान और सांप्रदायिक नफ़रत तभी बंद होंगे जब हम सब एक आवाज़ में इसके ख़िलाफ़ खड़े होंगे।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 2, 2022
साल बदला है, हाल भी बदलो- अब बोलना होगा!#NoFear
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said, “Appalling that the criminals behind such derogatory & demeaning actions against Muslim women are given a free run,” the former chief minister tweeted.
Appalling that the criminals behind such derogatory & demeaning actions against muslim women are given a free run. Whether its open calls for genocide of muslims or targeting muslim women online it is clear that these fringe elements enjoy the patronage of those in power https://t.co/EayNZ9cXml
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) January 2, 2022
National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma too tweeted on Sunday that the matter had been ’noted’. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
