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Muslim women in crosshairs of India's hate machine

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The chaos that followed the 10 November 2025 blast at Delhi's Red Fort was still unfolding when Indian news channels hurried to stitch together a story they seemed already prepared to tell. While rescue workers were rushing the injured to ambulances and frightened families were desperately trying to reach their loved ones, TV screens were already plastered with the face of a Pakistani woman, Shaheen Shahid - branded a "mastermind" before anyone had even begun to understand what had happened. Within hours, her name was tied to another woman, Afira Bibi, whose CNIC Indian channels had inexplicably been displaying for weeks, as if waiting for a moment like this.

As the story grew, so did the theatrics. Major Indian channels such as Zee TV began airing AI-generated videos depicting Muslim women in abayas and niqabs wielding weapons, marching in formation and training for jihad. These visuals were designed with precision: dramatic music, ominous captions, and carefully edited sequences that blurred the line between fiction and reportage. For an international audience already conditioned by global debates on women's rights and terrorism, this propaganda was crafted to evoke maximum alarm. It portrayed Pakistani Muslim women not as individuals but as extensions of extremist ideology, feeding a sensationalist storyline that required no evidence, only repetition.

This campaign coincided with India's self-proclaimed Operation Sindoor, ostensibly........

© The Express Tribune