A war of words between an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and a pro-AAP blog editor caught the attraction of Twitter users on 17th August 2022 in the evening. AAP MLA Naresh Balyan questioned the editor of the pro-AAP blog ‘Janta Ka Reporter’ Rifat Jawaid if he was involved in the recent stabbing of Salman Rushdie. Balyan tweeted this remark in response to Rifat Jawaid’s jibe in which he implied that AAP’s rule in Delhi is worse for Muslims than that of the Bharatiya Janata Party could be.
As it happened
On 17th August 2022, in the morning, AAP MLA Naresh Balyan tweeted, “BJP supporters kept pasting posters of Kashmir files film. On the other hand, the Modi government also gave 250 pucca houses, rations, and security to Rohingya refugees. But somebody please tell me one thing, who will pick up garbage from Rohingya houses every day? Tajinder Bagga or Sambit Patra? Kejriwal Ji at least gave freebies to the people of his country. This BJP has gifted 250 flats worth Rs 148 crore to Rohingya in Delhi. How big a traitor is this BJP? How much will these people downgrade for the Nobel Prize? After all, on what lines did the central government give 250 flats to the Rohingya?”
Quoting these tweets, Rifat Jawaid tweeted, “Come next elections, this Sanghi will beg to Muslims for votes. But look at this Islamophobe’s hateful tweet. Dear Muslims of Delhi, you deserve to have a government led by hatemongers under Kejriwal. No sympathy for you.”
AAP MLA Naresh Balyan tweeted in response, “Hey Talibani, what more you want to tell? You are in London and Rushdie is also in London. Is it you behind his stabbing in America?”.
Rifat Jawaid replied to Naresh Balyan in his next tweet. He wrote, “You scoundrel, this is why I told you to attend school. You should not have taken pick-pocketing as a profession. At least spell the name of the writer properly.”
A Twitter user named Furkan Sahil replied to this tweet by Rifat Jawaid saying, “Rifat Brother, why do you argue with this Sanghi? I know he has been a liquor mafia from Uttam Nagar and he was a corporator from BJP.”
Rifat Jawaid, however, stayed firm on his claims of Naresh Balyan being a pick-pocketer and wrote in his next reply, “This Naresh Balyan is a cheap pick-pocketer. He somehow escaped from getting beaten at the hands of an angry mob at Jama Masjid.”
Rifat Jawaid versus Naresh Balyan fights in the past
This is not the first time that Rifat Jawaid and Naresh Balyan have clashed with each other on Twitter. In April 2022, Islamists and terror apologists descended upon the timeline of Naresh Balyan after he called out Rifat Jawaid ‘Talibani’ for calling the Indian Army ‘coward’.