Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair has been arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police on the charges of hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity. Zubair has been arrested under sections 153 and 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He will be produced in court tomorrow for his hearing.
The arrest came days after several Hinduphobic posts from Zubair’s Facebook accounts had gone viral. After netizens shared his old posts mocking Hindu Gods, Zubair had apparently deleted his Facebook account. Zubair had also recently deleted dozens of tweets from his Twitter account, though it is not clear what was the content of those tweets.
Following his arrest, the Indian ‘liberal’ cabal suffered an expected meltdown. Rana Ayyub, who was dog-whistling the Islamist crowd against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her ‘blasphemy’ suddenly found shades of emergency if action is taken against anyone for hurting religious sentiments.
In her tweet, Ayyub wrote, “The Prime Minister of India talks about the horrors of Emergency while he has unleashed one in India.”
The Prime Minister of India talks about the horrors of Emergency while he has unleashed one in India. Journalist Zubair who routinely busted fake news, exposed the hate machinery in India has just been arrested. The country is punishing those who reported, documented the decline
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) June 27, 2022
NDTV journalists were expectedly among those who suffered heartburn post the arrest of Mohammed Zubair. In some cases, it was hard to tell whether they are more upset that Nupur Sharma has not been arrested yet or if Zubair has been arrested.
Reacting to the development, Gargi Rawat wrote, “Journalist who routinely busted fake news, and called out hate speech, especially the recent incident of the BJP spokesperson’s controversial comments on the Prophet, arrested #zubair“
Journalist who routinely busted fake news, and called out hate speech, especially the recent incident of the BJP spokesperson’s controversial comments on the Prophet, arrested #zubair https://t.co/wdBXhmQVDv
— Gargi Rawat (@GargiRawat) June 27, 2022
Rajdeep Sardesai was also upset that people ‘exposed’ by Mohammed Zubair have not been arrested yet while he has been taken into custody.
So Mohammed Zubair @zoo_bear who had raised red flag and exposed several instances of hate speech is now accused and arrested of hate speech himself. Even as many of those who he exposed roam freely. Chilling effect. 🙏 https://t.co/2xnNPwe5A1
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) June 27, 2022
Similar reactions to his arrest poured in from several other journalists as well, with similar wording to each other.
Delhi police has arrested @zoo_bear
— sohit mishra (@sohitmishra99) June 27, 2022
But for what? To expose the mindset of few people who don’t think twice before insulting someone’s religion on national TV??
“There is no action against the person who gave hate speech but the govt doesn’t want people to see this video in India.” As @zoo_bear (now arrested) put it yesterday, this is it.
— Seema Chishti (@seemay) June 27, 2022
Just don’t want the truth about India’s descent into darkness to get out. https://t.co/B0zo96QfYM
Even Congress Member of Parliament from Kishanganj, Dr. Md Jawaid stepped in to register his disappointment that Nupur Sharma has not been arrested for her comments on Prophet Muhammad while Zubair has been arrested for his hinduphobic posts.
Delhi police did not arrest BJP’s spokesperson who hurt the sentiments of Indian Muslims and Muslims of over 15 other countries but took absolute no time to arrest @zoo_bear. Law should be equal for all. #IStandWithZubair https://t.co/2rNhPMemNQ
— Dr Md Jawaid (@DrMdJawaid1) June 27, 2022
When Mohammed Zubair unleashed an army of Islamists against Nupur Sharma
Most of the people upset with Mohammed Zubair’s arrest seem to be more upset that former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma has not been arrested. Back in May, during a debate on Times Now on the disputed Gyanvapi structure, Nupur Sharma argued that since people are mocking the Hindu faith repeatedly, then they can also mock other religions referring to Islamic beliefs. Taking that video out of context, Zubair shared it with his Twitter followers declaring Nupur a rabid communal hatemonger and someone who can incite riots.
The dog-whistling obviously worked perfectly as troll accounts descended upon Nupur Sharma’s timeline giving her all kinds of threats including threats to behead her. Apart from online threats, there were bounties placed on Nupur Sharma’s head as well.
