2023 witnessed the rising menace of targeted attacks by Islamists against inter-faith couples in different parts of India. Opindia had documented over 50 cases of real-life attacks on Hindu men and their female Muslim partners/ friends by these extremists over the past several months in the name of combating the ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’.
An undercover investigation conducted by Opindia revealed that Islamists are actively using Whatsapp to radicalise and provoke their co-religionists to identify and harass inter-faith couples.
We have found evidence that these extremists coordinate to carry out vigilante surveillance and spot checks in complete violation of the constitutional rights of the victims. One such Whatsapp group found by Opindia during the investigation was ‘Behen Beti Bachao.’
“Group Me sirf Apna Suggestion Dete Rahe Ke Bhagwa Aatank Se Apni Behen Beti Ko Kaise Bacha Sakte (Keep giving suggestions in the group about ways to protect our (Muslim) sisters and daughters from saffron/Hindu terror),” the description read.
The Whatsapp group’s display picture (DP) featured burqa-clad Muskaan, the Muslim student who shot to fame for yelling ‘Allah hu Akbar’ in front of a group of Hindu students during the infamous Karnataka hijab row.
Opindia found that the group has four admins, namely, Ilyas Memon, Raees Shaikh, Farhat Shaikh and Husain Khan. The Islamists primarily carry out their operations in Maharashtra but have plans to expand to the rest of India.
Pakistanis in ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ Whatsaap group
During our investigation, we found that the ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ group has over 150 members.
Although the group carries out vigilantism in India, two of its members are from Pakistan. One of them is identified as ‘Fezan’ while another is known by the name ‘Saad Maitla.’ Their phone numbers start with the country code ‘+92’.
We also found that both Pakistanis are using the services of mobile data network operator, CMPak Limited.
Several Islamists, who are part of the ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ group, regularly share Pakistani propaganda content surrounding the ‘Bhagwa Love Trap.’ These include but are not limited to the inciteful and Hinduphobic videos created by a Pakistani YouTuber named Ibne Kazi.
Whatsapp group rife with misinformation, inciteful content
The ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ Whatsapp group is rife with graphic content, aimed at inciting the Muslim community to target Hindus under the make-believe ‘Bhagwa Love trap’ conspiracy theory.
An active member of the group, identified as Salman Khan, has been at the forefront of sharing provocative and misleading videos. “This is what happens to girls who run away from homes and marry as per their wishes,” he claimed by sharing a video of a deceased woman packed inside a suitcase.
Khan also shared information about how radical Islamists are training Muslim women to carry out vigilance in Jaipur city of Rajasthan. He urged his fellow co-religionists to create similar women-led groups in other parts of India and continue to propagate the ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ conspiracy theory.
Encouraging real-life attacks
Salman Khan also shared videos depicting violence against a Muslim woman, allegedly committed by her co-religionist for being with a Hindu man. Salman Khan encouraged other Islamists in the group to carry out such attacks against Hindu-Muslim couples, wherever possible.
In another video shared by him, a mob of Islamists was seen hounding a Hindu man for being with a burqa-clad woman. “Muslim bande Mar Gaye the kya ? Tum Gair musalman k saath Kya kar rahi ho (Are all Muslim men dead? What are you doing here with a non-Muslim guy),” the mob was heard abusing the woman.
Another member of the ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ Whatsapp group, identified as Sharif Tamboli, had also been at the helm of peddling the ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ conspiracy theory.
The Islamist shared a leaflet, falsely claiming that 10 lakh Muslim women are being converted to Hinduism each year by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). The propaganda-laden material also alleged the conversion and marriage of 800 Muslim women to Hindu men in Amaravati city of Maharashtra.
Opindia had earlier reported how a radical Maulvi named Sajjad Nomani had made similar outlandish claims about the conversion of 8 lakh Muslim women.
Sharif Tamboli urged his fellow Islamists to share the leaflet with every Muslim household within a radius of 50 km.
In May this year, the Indore police arrested 5 Islamists, namely, Tausif, Shahid Ali, Shadab Khan, Fardeen Khan and Shahrukh Baig for distributing the same contentious leaflet and creating communal tension in the city.
Islamists also use the ‘Behan Beti Bachao’ group to falsely attribute unverified, random videos of gore and violence to Hindus. One member of the Whatsapp group named Iqbal shared a graphic video of a murder and claimed that the victim was a Muslim and that the perpetrator was a Hindu.
This is a part of their larger conspiracy to use such videos as an excuse to orchestrate violence against the Hindu community.
Doxxing, witch-hunt and the modus operandi of the Islamists
Several members of the ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ group are actively involved in the doxxing of Hindu-Muslim couples. They seek information on such inter-faith couples and later use it to carry out a witch-hunt.
An Islamist named Zishan Ali sought intel on a Hindu man, who allegedly fled with a Muslim woman in Madhya Pradesh. He asked his co-religionists to ascertain the location of the couple and pass the information to a phone number belonging to another Islamist (identified as Moin Mansuri).
In May this year, a Twitter user ‘Haq Ali’ (@ahaq84958) was also seen running a vigilante campaign on social media against the same Hindu man and Muslim woman
.@MPPoliceDeptt This extremist is running a vigilante campaign on social media against this inter-faith couple, who supposedly eloped from their home.
— Dibakar Dutta (দিবাকর দত্ত) (@dibakardutta_) May 26, 2023
If anything happens to them, then this Twitter handle @ahaq84958 is to be responsible. https://t.co/Y1rGtmrnET pic.twitter.com/y06mdjQ4a1
While speaking about the matter, a source told Opindia, “Personal information about Hindu-Muslim couples shared in groups such as Behen Beti Bachao are sent by the admins to their ‘Strike Teams.’ They carry out a recce of the targets, locate their whereabouts and ambush them in a coordinated fashion.”
An Islamist associated with the ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ group, by the name of Wahid Maniyar, recently revealed the modus operandi of those carrying out doxxing, harassment and real-life attacks on Hindu men and Muslim women.
In a video shared by him, a man was heard explaining how Islamists find the address of Hindu-Muslim couples using the marriage register website of the Maharashtra government. The website allows the public to search for couples being married under the Special Marriage Act of 1954.
To make things worse, the present and permanent addresses of the individuals are accessible to everyone. Thus, prospective Hindu-Muslim couples are at risk of real acts of violence (and not just limited to social media bullying).
As per the video, the information is then circulated via social media and a dedicated team keeps vigil on the targets. They gather information, which includes but is not limited to their office timings, and vehicle numbers.
Opindia found that the Islamists frequently share pictures of Muslim women, who are to be married to their Hindu partners, in the ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ group. A member of the Whatsapp group, Mohammed Shahbaz Ansari, shared images of three such women and asked the group members to notify their parents in Jabalpur.
Links with other radical groups
During our investigation, Opindia found that Islamists associated with ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ are also members of other Whatsapp and Facebook groups, which are created for the purpose of doxxing, provocation and anti-Hindu propaganda.
Invites for joining such groups are frequently shared on ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ with the aim of amplification and dissemination of content revolving around ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ conspiracy theory. Those groups include ‘Islamic History’ and ‘Only Islamic Group Links.’
Interestingly, the ‘Islamic History’ group is run by Raees Shaikh, who also happens to be the admin of the ‘Behen Beti Bachao’ Whatsapp group.
Besides, there are public Facebook groups dedicated to the cause of fear-mongering and creating hysteria around inter-faith couples. Opindia found one such group named ‘Muslim ladkiyon ka group join karein‘ and has a whopping 2 million members.
A video posted on the group, dated May 4, 2023, highlighted random pictures of Hindu men accompanying Muslim women. As evident from the nature of the images used in the video, they were clicked without the knowledge of the couples.
The contentious post, which boasts of 45000 likes, claimed that such ‘inter-faith love’ would leave the Muslim women ostracised. “Jism nilaam, na ghar ka na ghat ka…Islam se bhi ruksaat ho jaoge (Your bodies will be auctioned…You will be nowhere…You will steer away from Islam),” it claimed.
‘Bhagwa love trap’ conspiracy theory and its aftermath
In recent times, a new menace of Islamist mobs attacking Hindu-Muslim couples has come to light. Multiple videos have surfaced on social media where these extremists are seen harassing, abusing, molesting and physically assaulting Hindu men and Muslim women under the garb of combating ‘Bhagwa Love Trap.’
It is based on a baseless theory about Hindu outfits, supposedly training Hindu youth to lure, and entrap Muslim women and turn them into non-Muslims. Opindia has reported that an Islamic cleric by the name of Sajjad Nomani has been making such outrageous claims since 2021.
The conspiracy theory soon took the form of a social media hashtag, which Islamists used to share videos of random hijab-wearing Muslim women and their male Hindu friends/ acquaintances and partners without their consent.
The posts are often accompanied by emotional messages and seek public help in identifying the couples. Soon after, social media was rife with videos of Islamist mobs ambushing random Hindu-Muslim couples.
This would then be followed by heated arguments, physical assault on Hindu men, and even molestation of the Muslim women. The victims have been targeted on roads, restaurants, eateries, and even hotels.
Based on local reports and social media videos, OpIndia has compiled a total of 50 cases (here, here and here) where Hindu men and Muslim women were attacked by extremists under the pretext of the ‘Bhagwa love trap.’
The attacks were carried out under the pretext that a sinister plot was underway to convert Muslim women to Hinduism by luring them into a love trap – a conspiracy theory espoused by Sajjad Nomani in multiple videos.
