Muhammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt news was arrested on Monday for allegedly injuring religious emotions.
Highlights:
- Muhammed Zubair of Alt news was detained for hurting religious beliefs.
- Opposition and journalists condemn the arrest.
The police of India detained Muhammad Zubair, co-founder of alt news, a fact-checking website. The journalist was arrested for hurting religious sentiments following a complaint by a Twitter user who pointed out a tweet from 2018. The user said that Zubair insulted Hindus by renaming a hotel after the Hindu monkey god Hanuman, the ANI news agency reported
Earlier, Zubair had tweeted about Nupur Sharma’s derogatory comments on Prophet Mohammed that sparked widespread communal protests and condemnation from Gulf countries. The Delhi Police said that the tweet was ‘highly provocative and sufficient enough to incite communal hatred’. Further, the tweet cascaded into a series of arguments and amplified hate-mongering the police added. Pratik Sinha, co-founder of Alt News stated that the Delhi Police did not issue an FIR copy despite several requests.
The tweet shared by Mr.Zubair was a clip from the 1983 classic Kissi Se Na Kehna which shows an image of a hotel renamed from “Honeymoon hotel” to “Hanuman hotel”. To this, Zubair tweeted “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel, After 2014: Hanuman Hotel”.
Massive outrage and backlash triggered:
Several journalists and the opposition have condemned the arrest of Zubair calling it a move to silence the truth against the BJP. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his views saying that the arrest will give rise to thousand more voices of truth.
Rana Ayyub, a Muslim journalist said, “Zubair, who routinely busted fake news, exposed the hate machinery in India has just been arrested.” “Delhi Police bending over backward to please sahibs & thumb nose at the law.” Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra tweeted. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor expressed that the arrest of Mr.Zubair is an assault on truth.
A report by the Wire says that multiple accounts constructed the image of “Hinduphobia” suggesting that the real purpose was just to punish Mr.Zubair for his hate speech against the BJP.
