Decoding the Rise in Cases of Economic Boycott of Muslim Vendors

In a video that went viral on social media on Sunday, 22 August, a Muslim man named Tasleem Ali, who sells bangles, was brutally beaten up and allegedly robbed by a group of men in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. In the video, he can be seen being repeatedly slapped and threatened. The mob is also using derogatory words and is asking him not to sell in a “Hindu area”. Just two days before the incident in Indore, a similar incident occured, also captured on video, in Rajasthan’s Ajmer, where a Muslim man who apparently came to beg alms was assaulted by another man. In the video, the assailant can be heard telling the beggar to “go back to Pakistan”. And in another similar incident in Kanpur, a Muslim e-rickshaw driver was thrashed by a mob and allegedly forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while being paraded through a crowd. Though incidents like the one in Indore, Ajmer, and Kanpur may seem isolated, they are actually part of a larger campaign for the economic boycott of Muslim vendors in the country. In this episode, we will analyse how these hate crimes are part of a larger campaign scripted not just by local Hindu activists but by religious leaders and politicians as well. Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Guest: Mohammed Asif Khan, an activist who documents hate crimes against Muslims and Abhilash Mallik, a fact-checker for WebQoof — The Quint’s fact-checking initiative. Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices