Harassment of Indian Muslims rises over COVID-19 rumors

Indians are apparently looking for a coronavirus scapegoat as the country’s Muslim population is widely reporting that they are being harassed over rumors of spreading the new virus.

According to Press TV, many people from the Muslim population said they are being harassed by both the police and people in the streets across the country, over the virus outbreak.

India reported Friday 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, over the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 23,077.

Health officials said they recorded 37 deaths while 490 patients have recovered.

In the meantime, rumors, misinformation and videos are being widely shared on social media in India, claiming that Muslims are deliberately spreading Covid-19.

Citing Hafez Mohammed Naseerudin, a Muslim Imam in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, CNN reported that he had been assaulted by police over the allegation.

"I am an Imam, so I look and dress very Muslim. I also have a long beard," he said. “The cop started hitting me and saying that it is because of me and my community that this disease is spreading."

In Punjab, a state in northern India, Muslim milk producers said they have been threatened by villagers, their houses have been raided by police, and people are scared to buy their produce.

“We have observed a deliberate pattern to delegitimize the community," said local website, Alt News.

"All these videos have been used to call for a boycott of the community, especially the lower economic sections of the society such as vegetable and fruit vendors. This act of communalizing a pandemic is disturbing as well as dangerous,” it wrote.

Former chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities described the discretionary moves as “shameful.”

"It is shameful that the safety of the Muslim community has been compromised during Covid-19,” said Wajahat Habibullah.

"We should all work together to combat the disease, instead we are targeting a certain community," he added.

Muslims, who make up more than 200 million of the country's 1.2 billion population, have long come under attack by Hindu terrorists.

SS