Scooping low: World media uses the coronavirus to fuel Islamophobic tropes

Muslim bashing hasn't come to a halt even at a time when the whole world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, the contagion is being used to fuel anti-Islam sentiments. From the US to the UK to India, far-right figures, journalists with dubious distinctions and some major publications like The Economist have had no qualms about equating the novel coronavirus with terms like 'jihad' or with stereotypical caricatures of Muslims — as portrayed in a cartoon published by one of India's leading newspapers The Hindu.

The Economist compared so-called ‘radical Islam’ in the Maldives with Covid-19, saying both are equally contagious in the country. The poorly thought out argument drew ire with people taking to social media and lambasting the London-based weekly newspaper. The Economist later removed the story from its Twitter feed.

Here's how people responded to the newspaper's shockingly xenophobic editorial judgement.

Many far-right and racist Twitter users are currently circulating old videos of Muslims praying in London streets. The intention is to misinform people by insinuating that Muslims are violating the lockdown, and sow feelings of discord between the minority community and majority Christian country.

Here's an example of how an old video was being circulated to demonise British Muslims.

London-based journalist Lizzie Dearden was quick to highlight the absurdity of the shared footage saying it could not have been taken in recent days since it hasn’t rained in the city for over two weeks.

But the video is making rounds on far-right social media networks, despite the fact London has been getting wall-to-wall sunshine since Boris Johnson-led government announced restriction of large gatherings and lockdown in light of the coronavirus threat.

In the US, some Trump supporters are peddling conspiracy theories, asking people to watch out for the holy month of Ramadan, which will start in mid April.

Things aren't any different in Europe either. In early January, Austrian media announced a suspected coronavirus case —  a Chinese stewardess — but used an image of a Hijab-wearing woman who was neither Chinese nor a stewardess to illustrate the story.

Similarly, many famed media outlets used images of mosques or Muslims as coronavirus hit their borders.

Athenian daily Kathimerini seems to relate coronavirus to only Muslim women wearing burqa living in their natural habitats under the shadow of a mosque and Turkish flag.

[NOTE: The article came from TRT World’s Eyes on Discrimination (EOD) Centre, which monitors and reports on offences, hate crimes and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin and religion, or other related social categories.]