India tops in religious hatred related to Corona epidemic, report

The Pew Research Center has released a research report regarding the situation of hatred between different communities in 198 countries of the world in 2020 during the corona virus epidemic. The report, called the Social Hatred Index (SHI), found hatred “very high” in 11 countries.

However, in terms of hatred, India was at the top. The 11 countries rated as “very high” include Nigeria, Afghanistan, Israel, Mali, Somalia, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Iraq, respectively.

According to the Pew Research Center, the Social Disgust Index score in India was already very high. One of the reasons for this is the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

In its report, the American think tank specifically focused on “how religious groups were affected by the restrictions of Covid-19 around the world in 2020.” The report said that minorities in India were targeted during the epidemic. And hashtags like #CoronaJihad were run on social media.

According to the Pew Research Center, “In the early days of the Covid pandemic, controversy arose over a Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi. Islamophobic hashtags such as #CoronaJihad were subsequently used and widely circulated on social media. Muslims were blamed for the virus.”

India is also among the four countries to use force against religious groups by private organizations in the name of coronavirus. “Only four countries, India, Argentina, Italy and the United States, were countries where non-state actors or private organizations were involved in epidemic-related social hatred, violence and vandalism against religious groups,” the report said.

According to the Pew Research Center, Muslims have been attacked in several places, accusing them of spreading the corona virus in India. The report said that in 46 of the 198 countries surveyed, or about 23 percent, force was used to enforce coronavirus-related restrictions on places of worship or religious gatherings, arresting people and They were given prison terms.

However, according to the report, religious leaders or groups in 97 countries played a role in promoting hygiene measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Meanwhile, Tablighi Jamaat’s center in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, was reopened last week on the orders of the Delhi High Court. The government shut it down in March 2020, accusing it of spreading the Covid epidemic. And several Tablighi Jamaat activists were arrested and jailed, including many foreigners.