Following in France’s footsteps, a campaign to “boycott Indian products” is escalating in the Arab world to support the Muslims of Assam

In the footsteps of the campaign to boycott French goods, a new electronic campaign topped the communication platforms in several Arab and Islamic countries, led by Egypt, where the hashtag (boycott of Indian products) appeared in the list of the most interactive on Twitter.

The campaign was launched after the incident of the displacement of Muslims in the state of Assam, northeastern India, and their assault and abuse, especially with the spread of horrific footage of the police assaulting and wounding one of them with bullets, and the appearance of a photographer – who was arrested later – trampling the body of the wounded man in a lonely scene that sparked Arab and Islamic anger.

The campaign’s creators were inspired by the idea of ​​​​the success of the campaigns to boycott French products that lasted for months since October last year, after President Emmanuel Macron and other politicians defended cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad under the pretext of freedom of expression, and electronic campaigns were launched to boycott French products and goods, which are calls Which was met with an unprecedented response, as attitudes escalated from the popular level to official condemnations issued by some countries.

Paris acknowledged at the time the extent of the impact of these boycott campaigns on the country’s economy, especially with the intensification of the Corona pandemic, and Reuters said in a previous report that France’s economic interests were “at stake” after the escalation of calls in the Islamic world to boycott its products.

Activists hope that the campaign will succeed in supporting and supporting the Muslims of India by boycotting Indian products that invade the Arab and Islamic markets, which will inevitably affect the Indian economy if the campaign is successful, and that Indian workers represent a majority in most Gulf countries.

As happened in the campaign to boycott French products, activists published lists of Indian goods, brands and their “barcode” and demanded their wide circulation for the success of the campaign.

A shocking video spread of Indian police shooting a Muslim at close range, then continuing to kick and hit the wounded man with sticks and feet, with the participation of a photographer who jumped over his body and stomped his foot while lying on the ground, motionless.

Arab and Muslim bloggers from several countries expressed their strong condemnation of the incident, and activists launched the names “India is killing Muslims” and “India Muslims are being exterminated,” to denounce the violent treatment of the Indian authorities towards Muslims during the process of displacing thousands of them in the state of Assam and removing their homes on the pretext that they are built on state-owned land.

Local media reported that two people were killed in a police shooting while a large crowd was protesting a massive eviction campaign in Gurokhote village in Darang district of Assam on Thursday morning.

The incident prompted the Assam government to order a judicial investigation into the causes and circumstances that led to the police shooting, but at the same time, it emphasized that the eviction campaign would continue.

Narendra Modi’s government is still facing accusations of persecuting and discriminating against Muslims in India, and the video sparked outrage on social media platforms.

Violence against Muslims and other minorities in India has become frequent and intensified, with hate speech against Muslims and minorities increasing in the country in recent years with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party taking power in 2014.

Muslims constitute half of the population in the Indian subcontinent, according to researcher and historian Musa Al-Safadi. That region of the world contains 40% of Muslims, and India alone has about 300 million Muslims, according to official statistics, while unofficial statistics indicate that their number exceeds 500 million.

According to Safadi, Muslims in India have become a minority after the secession of Pakistan and Bangladesh from it, in addition to the ethnic cleansing that wiped out millions of Muslims and displaced millions of others.