Decoding the Rise in Cases of Economic Boycott of Muslim Vendors

<div>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.<br> <br> </div> <div>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”.<br> <br> </div> <div>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”.<br> <br> </div> <div>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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> </div> <div>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.<br> <br> <br> <strong>Host and Producer: </strong>Himmat Shaligram</div> <div> <br> <strong>Guest:</strong> Mohammed Asif Khan, an activist who documents hate crimes against Muslims <br> and Abhilash Mallik, a fact-checker for WebQoof — The Quint’s<strong> </strong>fact-checking initiative.</div> <div><br> </div> <div> <strong>Editor:</strong> Shelly Walia</div> <div><br> </div> <div> <strong>Music:</strong> Big Bang Fuzz</div> <div><br> </div> <div><strong>Listen to The Big Story podcast on:</strong></div> <div><br> </div> <div>Apple: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=vide