On June 28, columnist Yuvraj Pokharna got death threats from Islamists on Instagram after he criticised the Udaipur murder. While commenting on a post on The Tatva India’s Instagram post on the murder of Kanhaiya Lal Teli by Islamists, Pokharna had written, “This abominable “skullcap” cult will always be inimical and grotesque to mankind.”
Replying to his comment, an Instagram user, faisal_x_mhd, said, “Gustak E Rasool ki ek saja sir tan se juda.”
Another Instagram user, amirshaikh_rm, questioned, “who started it, dude?”.
Following this, Yuvraj Pokharna lodged a complaint with the Gujarat Police against the Instagram users Faisal and Amir Shaikh.
Speaking to OpIndia, Pokharna said he got multiple threats for criticising the brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal by Islamists in Udaipur. He said, “I was shocked. Kanhaiya Lal was killed for merely supporting Nupur Sharma. I criticized the murder on Instagram, which attracted threats to me as well. I have filed a Police complaint against the Instagram users who have threatened me.” After issuing the threats, both Amir and Faisal have deactivated their Instagram accounts.
Yuvraj was targeted earlier for raising doubts over NGO Hemkunt Foundation
This is not the first time Yuvraj received threats. In May 2021, the columnist was under attack after he questioned the funding and expenditures of NGO Hemkunt Foundation. In a conversation with OpIndia during that time, he said, “I wonder if asking valid questions was a mistake?” He revealed how a whole army of trolls and abusers have been after him since the video was published. He had received endless abuses and threats for merely questioning the NGO.
The trolls crossed the limit when they leaked his number online. Yuvraj said that being a professional, it was not hard to find his number online, and the abusers took advantage of it. As soon as his number was shared on social media, he started to get threatening messages and calls, said Yuvraj.
Yuvraj said it was not limited to just abuses. Several comments were a direct threat to him. One person who stood out with his threatening videos and messages is named Viky Thomas. Yuvraj told us that there was a video of him in which he was allegedly openly threatening him, but the video was later deleted.
Murder of Kanhaiya Lal
On June 28, a Hindu man named Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered in Udaipur, Rajasthan, over an alleged post in favour of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The post was allegedly made by accident from Kanhaiya Lal’s phone by his 8-years-old son while playing a video game. Kanhaiya Lal was arrested for making the post after his neighbour filed a complaint about the same. He also leaked Kanhaiya Lal’s number, photograph and address to his community groups. After being released on bail, he continued to receive threats. He shut his shop for six days and approached Police for protection. Instead of giving him protection, the Police asked him to make a compromise with the Islamists who were threatening him. After six days, when he opened his shop, two Islamists came as customers and beheaded him. The two attackers, identified as Mohammed Riyaz Akhtar and Mohammed Gos, were arrested by the Police. The case has been taken over by NIA under the Ministry of Home Affairs’ direction.