Today, the Delhi Police arrested Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, for allegedly promoting hatred between communities and outraging religious sentiments in a 2018 tweet.
#IndiaWithDelhiPolice arresting the traitors. pic.twitter.com/kG6407mrUO
— Vedic Vashudev (@vedicvashudev) June 28, 2022
The case was registered at the Special Cell police station under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295 A (intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) on the complaint of a Twitter user with the profile name “Hanuman Bhakt”.
Meanwhile, Twitteratis strongly reacted to the arrest, as most of them supported the Delhi police, and #IndiaWithDelhiPolice was trending on Twitter. Right-wing supporters not only hailed the Delhi police, but also went on to glorify Nupur Sharma while defaming Mohammed Zubair.
Calling this free journalism and when नूपुर शर्मा one time spoke the truth about their prophet, all of a sudden it was tagged as blasphemy. #zubairarrest was genuine.#BistanderedSecularist#IndiaWithDelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/UKC7FhK8mr
— Parihar (@Parihar022) June 28, 2022
Lets us settle a score:
Vote Maximum#IndiaWithDelhiPolice#zubairarrest pic.twitter.com/Ed81orWjB4
— PRAVIN R. BHOJ (@Po_intBlank) June 28, 2022
How's the Josh?#IndiaWithDelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/ijNUjbIvs7
— Ecosystem (@indiecosystem) June 28, 2022
On March 24, 2018, Zubair tweeted “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel”, and attached the image of a hotel signboard where the name of the establishment was apparently changed.
https://twitter.com/Jyoti789Singh/status/1541658518737940481?s=20&t=DRQ9gZjB4-YpKDcJbNtO5A
The handle that registered the complaint followed zero people and had 21 followers on Monday night. It had only one tweet on its timeline, on June 19, that quoted Zubair’s 2018 tweet, tagged Delhi Police and IFSO unit, and said, “Linking our god Hanuman ji with honeymoon is direct insult of Hindus because he is brahmchari @DCP_CCC_Delhi kindly take action against this guy.”
Mocking Hindu gods is fashion for him. Now #IndiaWithDelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/nYdVpixprJ
— 🌷राष्ट्रहित सर्वोपरी BJP🌷 (@bjp7007) June 28, 2022
In May, Zubair shared a video of Ms. Sharma making controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed on a TV show. The remarks were later condemned by the government after they sparked furious responses from Muslim-majority countries across the world, many of whom also summoned Indian envoys to register their displeasure. Sharma was later suspended by the BJP and is currently facing multiple FIRs, including one by Delhi Police, but has not been arrested.
Opposition politicians and civil society members condemned the move by the Delhi police, particularly since it came weeks after Mr. Zubair flagged controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed made by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
https://twitter.com/SudhakarSinghS2/status/1541634668499505153?s=20&t=DRQ9gZjB4-YpKDcJbNtO5A
Same Ideology.#IndiaWithDelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/qPCAG0rm64
— Ecosystem (@indiecosystem) June 28, 2022
“Every person exposing BJP’s hate, bigotry, and lies is a threat to them. Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more. Truth always triumphs over tyranny,” tweeted senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
However, Twitteratis mocked Mr. Gandhi for his comments, reflecting the divided and communal socio-political atmosphere of our nation.
References: Hindustan Times, Twitter
Featured Image Source: Twitter Trends
