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New Delhi: The Women in Criminal Law Association (WCLA) on January 4, Tuesday, strongly condemned the targeted harassment of Indian Muslim women, including journalists, researchers, social workers, through the ‘Bulli Bai’ app, and the “inaction” by the authorities.
The WCLA said, “We stand in solidarity with the Indian Muslim women whose photographs and information have been shared without their knowledge or consent on ‘Bulli Bai’ and unconditionally condemn this attempt to sexualise, dehumanise and harass Muslim women. This is a targetted, misogynistic hate campaign directed at Muslim women punishable under Indian criminal law.”
It said, “The terms ‘Sulli’ and ‘Bulli’ are derogatory slurs used to specifically insult and disrespect Muslim women and constitute hate speech. ‘Auctioning’ women on the internet also amounts to a gross violation of their constitutional right to dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy.”
The Mumbai police have arrested three people in connection with the case. The Mumbai cyber police station has also registered a case against the unidentified developers of the app and the Twitter handles that promoted it.
Calling the app an “attempt to silence the political participation of Indian Muslim women”, the WCLA has expressed concerns over the lack of action and transparency on the case by the police.
They have demanded immediate action against the creators of both “Sulli Deals” and “Bulli Bai”, and that GitHub should direct more resources immediately towards scanning all its webpages for Islamophobic and misogynistic content and take them down promptly in the future.
They further demanded that “the accused must be prosecuted under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code including but not limited to sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 354A and 509 for sexual harassment along with the section 66 & 67 of IT Act and provisions against trafficking and slavery.”
Also read: Media Bodies Condemn ‘Bulli Bai’ App, Criticise Police Inaction in Previous ‘Auction’
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) also condemned the app, calling the ‘auction’ a “malicious, mischievous and reprehensible” act.
A resolution issued by the DHCBA said that it has been unanimously resolved that the lawyers’ body shall write to the Delhi police commissioner, demanding the registration of a first information report and an efficient and expeditious investigation so that those found guilty of committing the “dastardly crime” are punished in accordance with the law.
It further said the app is not only tantamount to the commission of grave criminal offences but also targets and brings disrepute to the female citizenry.
Read WCLA’s complete statement.
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WCLA Solidarity Statement with Muslim Women Targeted in Bulli Bai
The Women in Criminal Law Association (WCLA) strongly condemns the targeted Islamophobic harassment of Indian Muslim women through the “Bulli Bai” webpage, and the subsequent inaction by concerned authorities.
On 1st January 2022 photos and Twitter of hundreds of Indian Muslim women appeared for
“auction” without their knowledge or consent on a public page called “Bulli Bai”
(bullibai.github.io, now pulled down) hosted on GitHub, in a blatant Islamophobic attempt to harass Indian Muslim women. This comes on the heels of “Sulli Deals,” also hosted on GitHub in July 2021, where Indian Muslim women were again “auctioned” without their knowledge or consent and inaction since then has emboldened the accused and enabled further such crimes against Muslim women. The users in both incidents have used anonymous Twitter handles and hide behind the GitHub platform to harass, disrespect and threaten Indian Muslim women.
Many of the women targeted on Bulli Bai are prominent public personalities, including journalists, researchers, social workers, and others in an attempt to silence the political participation of Indian Muslim women.
We stand in solidarity with the Indian Muslim women whose photographs and information
have been shared without their knowledge or consent on Bulli Bai and unconditionally condemn this attempt to sexualise, dehumanise and harass Muslim women. This is a targeted, misogynistic hate campaign directed at Muslim women punishable under Indian criminal law.
The terms “Sulli” and “Bulli” are derogatory slurs used to specifically insult and disrespect Muslim women and constitute hate speech. “Auctioning” women on the internet also amounts to a gross violation of their constitutional right to dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy.
Despite two FIRs having been registered by the police in Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi, no concrete action has been taken against perpetrators in either FIR, with no transparent information available from the police on the identities of the creators of “Sulli Deals,” and whether any investigation has been undertaken. Not a single arrest had been made as yet in connection with Sulli Deals and this has emboldened the accused to act with impunity.
As of 2nd January 2022, GitHub has confirmed blocking the user who hosted Bulli Bai. Microsoft-owned GitHub is one of the world’s largest and most popular services for developers to collaborate and publish code. The Mumbai police have also arrested a person in connection with the matter.
In rage, grief, and solidarity with the Muslim women whose information and photographs were
used to “auction” them to men on the internet on the Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai webpages, the Women in Criminal Law Association makes the following demands:
1. We demand immediate action against the creators of both “Sulli Deals” and “Bulli Bai.” We demand that the Delhi police take swift action in investigating FIR No. 0001, Cyber Police Station South East Delhi registered on the basis of a complaint registered by one of the women whose pictures were posted on Bulli Bai. We also demand that the Maharashtra police take swift action in investigating the FIR filed before the Maharashtra Cyber Cell on 2nd January 2022 on the basis of a complaint registered by another woman whose pictures were posted on Bulli Bai.
2. We demand that the Delhi police and Uttar Pradesh police take swift and immediate action against the creators of Sulli Deals in the FIRs registered in New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh on the basis of complaints filed by women whose pictures were posted on Sulli Deals.
3. We demand that GitHub direct resources immediately towards ensuring that anyone who made a copy, or ‘fork,’ of the code on their own GitHub account and/or liked/starred the Sulli Deals and/or Bulli Bai repositories do not have other projects that include similar hate speech, misogyny, violence, or otherwise unacceptable material.
4. We demand that GitHub also direct more resources immediately towards specifically scanning all upcoming GitHub webpages for Islamophobic, misogynistic content, and specifically similar “auctions” of Indian Muslim women, to ensure that such webpages are taken down promptly in the future, and their creators do not enjoy impunity from GitHub.
5. We demand that GitHub cooperate completely and transparently with Indian law enforcement agencies and assist them in their investigation by providing them with all particulars and information available with GitHub regarding the users responsible for creating and using the “Sulli Deals” and “Bulli Bai” webpages.
6. The accused must be prosecuted under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code including but not limited to sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 354A & 509 for sexual harassment along with the section 66 & 67 of IT Act and provisions against trafficking and slavery.
We stand with all the women targeted. We centre their well-being and decisions on how to proceed with further action, and assert the need to centre their narratives, experiences and safety as they speak up against this. We extend our unconditional solidarity to them.