Middle Eastern countries boycott Indian products

People across countries in the Middle East have started a social media campaign to boycott Indian products to protest the Assam police’s brutality against Muslims during an eviction drive earlier in September.

The incident drew wide condemnation after a video of Indian police shooting a Muslim man went viral.

The widely circulated video also showed an Assam government photographer repeatedly stomping on a body during the eviction drive. The horrific video has triggered a backlash in the Gulf countries.

Boycott of Indian products on social media in the Arab world is currently underway.

The hashtag ‘India kills Muslims’ has been trending in Arab countries and India is being accused of genocide. Under the hashtag, many people expressed their support for displaced families and condemned the treatment meted out to them by Indian authorities.

On September 30, The Middle East Monitor, a publication focused on reporting from the region, revealed that members of Kuwait's National Assembly had condemned “the atrocities committed by the Indian authorities and Hindu extremist groups against the Muslim community”.

Kuwait’s National Assembly members also issued a joint statement against the attacks on Muslims in India.

“The lawmakers said in a joint statement that in the wake of the wave of violence and discrimination committed against Indian Muslims, including killing, displacement and burning, the lawmakers stand in solidarity with Muslims in India.”

“They called on international, humanitarian, human rights and Islamic organisations to immediately work towards stopping the Indian authorities’ actions and restore security to Indian Muslims,” The Middle East Monitor reported.

Kuwaiti member of Parliament Shuaib Al-Muwaizri called for a boycott of Indian goods.

According to Kuwaiti news outlet Sabr News on September 29, Al-Muwaizri said, “The Islamic World Organization, the leaders of Islamic countries, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the United Nations, where are you about the heinous crimes committed by the Indian government against Muslims, men, women and children? Boycotting India and its products is a legal duty.”

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Oman’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Al Khalili, one of the most influential clerics in the country, tweeted on September 28, about violence against Muslims in India.

He claimed the violence in India was “a blatant aggression against Muslim citizens at the hands of extremist groups—supported by official bodies—it hurts everyone with a conscience”.

“I appeal—in the name of humanity—to all peace-loving countries to intervene to stop this aggression, and I also appeal to the Ummah as a whole to stand united in this matter,” Sheikh Ahmed Al Khalili said.

Khaled Beydoun, the author of the book ‘Islamophobia’, described it as “state-sponsored Islamophobia” and “Hindutva violence”.

Former director of Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IESCO), A. Altwaijri, tweeted that Narendra Modi’s “Hindu government” was abusing and persecuting Muslims “within the framework of a systematic policy and in light of international silence and Islamic inaction”.

Abdul Rahman Al-Nassar, who has over 3,18,000 followers on Twitter, tweeted the viral video of violence at Darrang and said, “There are more than three million Hindus in the Gulf, they bring tens of billions of dollars to India, and we treat them with respect, so why are our brothers in India being killed just because they are Muslims?”