ALBAWABA - American-based Muslim thinker, scholar and academic Professor Khaled A. Beydoun is being hounded by Hindu nationalists for speaking his mind about the rising Islamophobia in India.
I have a warrant for my Arrest in #India for speaking up against Hindutva terror and Islamophobia.
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) November 6, 2021
I take that as a badge of honor. https://t.co/1FOHZdJp9o
Its all over the social media. For speaking his mind about bigotry, the Indian authorities, and namely those from the Narendra Modi Bharatiya Jnaata Party (BJP) has issued a warrant for his arrest.
Beydoun simply writes I'm wanted in India because of speaking against Indian Islamophobia and what he calls as the Hindova terror and 'radicalizing' activists and Muslims.
Of his arrest warrant he writes "I take that as a badge of honor". Next to the comment there is a link (https://twitter.com/aarifshaah/status/1456886785871527936). Unfortunately however, this tweet appears to be deleted. So we can't find out more!
Could this be because of highlighting what he terms Hindova terror mob march in the Indian state of Tripura the majority of whom are Muslims. The march is insidious as the marchers chant ethnic-cleansing slogans against their Muslim compatriots.
RSS BJP Hindutva mobd marching in #Tripura, chanting ethnic-cleansing slogans and violence against Muslims. #India https://t.co/p6Fe90aRw5
— Ali (@AliJaved24) November 7, 2021
According to reports ethnic tensions had been rising in the north-eastern state with Hindu's attacking mosques and properties owned by Muslims.
But why should an arrest warrant be issued for Dr Beydoun? Surely not for posting the Hindutva hate march against the Muslims of Tipura. The video-post must have been retweeted by everyone and not specifically related to Beydoun.
Is it because he is an activist as well as an academic? Is it because he fights Islamphobia on social media accounts? But Dr Beydoun is a respected academic.
On his https://khaledbeydoun.com website there is simply a short kicker next to his name: Khaled Beydoun....'Civil Rights, Islamophobia and National Security Expert' which doesn't at all imply he is a rebel-rouser.
Also on his web page this notice appears: Khaled A. Beydoun is a leading thinker on national security, civil rights and constitutional law. He has published a series of books, including the critically acclaimed American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear, featured his insights in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and his work has been featured in leading law journals. He serves as a law professor at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville School of Law and Senior Affiliated Faculty at U.C.-Berkeley, a leading public intellectual on matters linked to Islamophobia, national and cyber-security, and civil rights.
We must then ask why issue an arrest warrant for an academic, intellectual and an expert? And why from India of all places?
