The February declaration of the police was overshadowed when the Delhi police on Monday arrested AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, days after registering an FIR based on a complaint by a man, who had been tagging the Delhi Police on social media alleging that Zubair hurt his religious sentiments and legal action should be taken against him.<\/p>\n
In February this year, the Delhi HC asked the Police to file a further status report on the investigation carried out so far. During a hearing in May, the Delhi Police told the high court that the tweet made by Zubair \u201cdoes not constitute any cognizable offense\u201d.<\/p>\n
It is unclear what Zubair said that made the police arrest him.\u00a0 Zubair is now arrested though, in February, police found no crime in his tweet.<\/p>\n
The FIR was lodged on a complaint from Bhagwan Sharan, who is the Sitapur unit chief of the Hindu Sher Sena. \u201cThis complaint is with regard to hurting our religious sentiments by using derogatory words against mahants of our dharam sthal, which is a symbol of our faith. On May 27, I saw on Twitter that Mohammad Zubair had used derogatory words like \u2018hatemongers\u2019 against Rashtriya Hindu Sher Sena national custodian Bajrang Muni. Zubair had also disrespected Hindu Yati Narsinghanand and Swami Anand Swarup,\u201d read the FIR.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Zubair is the co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, which he founded along with former software engineer Pratik Sinha. Zubair and Sinha founded the Alt News website in 2017 to combat fake news.<\/p>\n
Sinha. Zubair and Sinha founded the Alt News website in 2017 to combat fake news.<\/p>\n
Trouble stirred for\u00a0 Zubair after he brought to light the comments made by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on the Prophet earlier this month that the central government had found itself in a diplomatic battle, with condemnation pouring in from many countries, including Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The Centre was forced to distance itself from Sharma\u2019s comments while the party had suspended her.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, an FIR was lodged in Uttar Pradesh against Zubair for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by calling Mahant Bajrang Muni \u2018Udasin\u2019, Yati Narsinghanand, and Swami Anand Swarup \u201chatemongers\u201d on Twitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Zubair) has intentionally tried to spread hatred in society and incite Muslims and hurt Hindu sentiments as part of a conspiracy. There is anger among us Hindus by such acts of his,\u201d it added. The complaint also alleged that Zubair was \u201cinciting Muslims to murder Hindu leaders\u201d.<\/p>\n
While Zubair did not desire to comment on that FIR, Alt News editor-in-chief Pratik Sinha said it was a clear example of \u201cselective targeting\u201d. Regarding allegations that Zubair is inciting people and spreading hatred, Sinha said, \u201cA cursory look at Zubair\u2019s timeline on social media will be enough to show that Zubair never promotes hate or a divisive agenda. His work is journalistic in nature where he tweets on hate speech and misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
In August 2020, Delhi Police had booked Zubair in a POCSO case on the basis of a complaint filed by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo. The NCPCR complaint had referred to a tweet shared by Zubair on August 6, 2020, which had the photo of a minor girl, with her face blurred out, during an online spat he was having with her father.<\/p>\n
However, the Delhi High Court in September of that year deprived the police of taking coercive action against Zubair in the case.<\/p>\n
Following Twitter\u2019s refusal to take down Zubair\u2019s post, the NCPCR last year approached the High Court seeking the removal of the tweet while alleging that it was in violation of various laws. In the affidavit before the court, the NCPCR also said that police has informed it that a Kalandra under Section 175 IPC was filed before the Patiala House Court on February 17, 2021, against Twitter for not providing the information sought despite repeated reminders.<\/p>\n
There is a heavy hashtag on Twitter trending I stand with Zubair.<\/p>\n
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted, “India\u2019s few fact-checking services, especially @AltNews, perform a vital service in our post-truth political environment, rife with disinformation. They debunk falsehoods to whoever perpetrates them. To arrest
\n@zoo_bear is an assault on truth. He should be released immediately.”<\/p>\n
\nIndia\u2019s few fact-checking services, especially @AltNews<\/a>, perform a vital service in our post-truth political environment, rife with disinformation. They debunk falsehoods whoever perpetrates them. To arrest @zoo_bear<\/a> is an assault on truth. He should be released immediately.<\/p>\n
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n