The Karnataka police on Thursday, February 29, detained Mohmad Shafi Nashipudi in connection with the case of raising pro-Pakistani slogans in the Vidhana Soudha, following the victory of Congress candidate Syed Naseer Hussain. Mohmad Shafi is reportedly a trader and supporter of the Congress MP and was present in the Vidhana Soudha with Syed Nasser Hussain, the political secretary of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, in the celebration after the Rajya Sabha election victory.
ANI quoted the Byadagi police as saying that Mohmad Shafi Nashipudi has been detained and the Police collected his voice sample and took him to analyse the voice in the alleged pro-Pakistan slogan video. He was present in Vidhana Soudha with Syed Nasser Hussain in the celebration after the Rajya Sabha election victory.
The action came after the BJP unit of Karnataka filed a complaint at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station on Tuesday (February 27) night alleging that supporters of Rajya Sabha (Upper House) member Syed Naseer Hussain raised pro-Pakistan slogans following his election victory.
After the state unit of BJP flagged the issue, dubious ‘fact-checker’ Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear), who often comes in support of Islamists and those who are patently against the interests of India, took to X to refute the allegation. In one of the several posts Zubair posted on the matter, he shared screenshots of various media reports that reported the matter and wrote, “Kannada News Channels are propagating the lie of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans being heard. The supporters of @NasirHussainINC said ‘Nasir Saab Zindabad’. The lies by the News channels is picked up by BJP leaders like @ShobhaBJP @RAshokaBJP @BYVijayendra in Karnataka. Even the reporters present there have denied pro-Pakistan slogans were raised.”
Zubair prior to this had shared the video of the incident and posted, “A video of @NasirHussainINC’s supporters saying ‘Nasir Saab Zindabad’ is reported/shared by several Kannada News Channels with the claim that it is ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. The same is now getting shared by several BJP supporters.”
Several Congress leaders also joined the bandwagon. Karnataka Minister of Information and Technology Priyank Kharge also vehemently refuted the allegation and accused the BJP of using the pro-Pakistan slogan issue to escape from facing challenges. “It is very clear in the audio that they have said Naseer Hussain and Syed Sahab zindabad…This is nothing but a desperate measure for the BJP to get back in the game. The party has done an audio forensic check and it is found that there is nothing like that. The govt’s FSL report is expected by 11 am…” he told the media.
Similarly, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala also used the opportunity to attack BJP. “Frustrated & demoralised by their resounding defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka, BJP leaders are peddling their favourite set of lowly lies of Pakistan Zindabad slogans being raised by supporters of Congress MP,” Surjewala wrote on X.
However, the Karnataka police have today detained Mohmad Shafi Nashipudi and are analysing his voice sample as part of the investigation into the case. While the police are probing the case, it will be interesting to recall how last year a similar situation occurred.
Hours after the Congress won the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha elections, a video of a mob of party supporters allegedly shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ went viral on social media.
The video was said to have been recorded in the Belagavi Uttar Assembly constituency, following the victory of Congress candidate Asif Sait. A copy of the contentious footage was posted on Twitter by popular user ‘Befitting Facts,’ as he rubbished the claims. The archive of his tweet can be accessed here.
Propaganda Twitter handle ‘Drunk Journalist’ even went on to post two variants of slogans, which he claimed were raised by the group of Congress party supporters – ‘Asif Sait Zindabad’ and ‘Raju Sait Zindabad.’
Then too, Zubair courted controversy by ‘quote tweeting’ a video by a user ‘total_woke’ and claiming that the police personnel were asking the mob to not speak against another candidate.
In the meantime, a report from the Kannada newspaper ‘Prajavani’ emerged. As per the report, the local police acknowledged the allegations about the chanting of pro-Pakistan slogans by a mob of people.
Zubair, who had earlier tried to suggest that there was no evidence of contentious sloganeering, was quick to do a u-turn to try and mitigate the blatant unverified news that he was attempting to spread to defend Islamists who had potentially raised pro-Pakistan slogans.