On June 27, Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair was arrested for allegedly hurting Hindu religious sentiments. The supposed reason: a satirical post from four years ago that a now-deleted Twitter account called Hanuman Bhakt apparently found offensive and flagged to the Delhi police on June 19.
Zubair’s post referenced a trope from the 1983 film Kissi Se Na Kehna.
Apparently, this was the tweet-
— Pyaar Se Mario (@SquareGas) June 27, 2022
The same image was tweeted by others and was even published in an @IndianExpress article on similar memes
Can few Hindus please raise their voice and say aloud that this does not hurt any sentiments? pic.twitter.com/jZI35QFtNg
It may have been Hanuman Bhakt’s complaint that purportedly landed the journalist in jail, but it was a sustained online campaign that paved the way. A prime node in which was a Twitter account called The Hawk Eye, described on a Razorpay page soliciting donations as “an attempt to spread awareness against industrialized disinformation campaigns raged by the communist cabal”.
Indeed, it was The Hawk Eye who first flagged Zubair’s 2018 satirical post, in a June 13 Twitter thread demanding police action against the journalist for making “fun of gods, religion, culture and scriptures”, and for triggering “violent mayhem”. Meaning the protests sparked by BJP’s now-suspended spokeswoman Nupur Sharma’s derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad, which Zubair had brought attention to.
The Hawk Eye’s thread, which also cited supposedly offensive tweets by Zubair’s fellow Alt News cofounder Pratik Sinha, generated nearly 5,000 retweets and kicked off the campaign #ArrestMohammadZubair.
Its easy to make fun of other’s god, religion, culture & scriptures, because there is no consequences.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) June 13, 2022
Ironically its coming from same person who triggered an event that took entire nation on ransom, and the violent mayhem is still on..
Ever tried this for own …? pic.twitter.com/dV7dDWTSAR
Starting in April, The Hawk Eye has posted several Twitter threads supposedly exposing Zubair, accusing him specifically and Alt News generally of committing financial crimes and publishing biased news.
[Exposed] The web of lies of alleged fact-check portal AltNews & directors.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) March 8, 2022
Pravda Media (parent co), a not-for-profit, not just making huge profits but systematically retaining most of them.
Let's take a deep dive into the financial stats of the 'charity'.#TheHawkEyeThread
1/ pic.twitter.com/HmqPFUIMgL
On April 23, Zubair tweeted about a successful fundraising drive for the mostly Muslim families in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh whose homes had been bulldozed by police in the wake of communal violence, allegedly as an act of collective punishment.
Recall. 2 months back Md Zubair collected 1Cr in 24hrs. Collectively with M2S NGO they raised 1.8Cr. An analysis (thread) was published next day. 26% of funds were from overseas.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) June 28, 2022
Police found 50Lac transactions from Zubair's a/c now.@DelhiPolice may like to look into this.
1/ pic.twitter.com/IFLhoETtx5
The Hawk Eye responded with a thread alleging that while raising funds for the “resettlement of illegal encroachers, rioters and illegal migrants”,
Pravda Media Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Alt News, violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Recall. 2 months back Md Zubair collected 1Cr in 24hrs. Collectively with M2S NGO they raised 1.8Cr. An analysis (thread) was published next day. 26% of funds were from overseas.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) June 28, 2022
Police found 50Lac transactions from Zubair's a/c now.@DelhiPolice may like to look into this.
1/ pic.twitter.com/IFLhoETtx5
The Hawk Eye wasn’t alone in going after Zubair. It was joined by prominent rightwing tweeters, including Shefali Vaidya, a columnist for Swarajya; pundit and TV talking head Abhijit Iyer Mitra; former Mail Today editor Abhijit Majumdar; and DD News consulting editor Ashok Shrivastav.
This Zubair is the kind of ‘elite Muslim intellectual’ that provides cover to street violence by Muslims. He mocks Hindus relentlessly, but dogwhistles his co-religionists to take offence at perceived slights to Islam. Deserves to rot in a UP jail for a few years! #ArrestZubair
— Shefali Vaidya. (@ShefVaidya) June 14, 2022
Incidentally @AmitShah @HMOIndia @manojsinha_ @JmuKmrPolice - apparently the local police officials at @ShopianPolice are dear friends of a known jihadist who set off an Islamist lynch mob against a woman https://t.co/eXN7elHGGY pic.twitter.com/pkzB1eB7KK
— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) June 23, 2022
Heh. Burn down cities and towns calling for Nupur Sharma’s beheading over her factual quoting from Hadith.
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) June 14, 2022
And then trend #IStandWithZubair when your online ‘ghazi’ gets into trouble for constantly mocking another religion.
You can’t have it both ways, baby :-) pic.twitter.com/oCWcHeHA2a
#उदयपुर के इन जेहादी आतंकियों का फास्ट ट्रैक कोर्ट में केस चला कर जल्द से जल्द सरे आम फांसी दी जानी चाहिए।
— Ashok Shrivastav (@AshokShrivasta6) June 28, 2022
इस गरीब दर्जी की हत्या #Zubair के सर पर है। pic.twitter.com/nrsfXfzG5y
Arun Pudur, a self-described tech billionaire, even offered money for anyone willing to start legal action against Zubair and Alt News, which had debunked his false claims against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
⚠️Announcing Rewards for Legal action against @zoo_bear & @AltNews
— Arun Pudur (@arunpudur) June 14, 2022
₹1,000 for First FIR filed against him & his portal, for each State & UT.
₹10,000 first person to get him arrested.
₹50,000 first person to get him convicted & get long jail time.
The Hawk Eye reposted the April 24 thread the day after Zubair’s arrest, tagging the Delhi police and asking for an investigation into the allegations.
A few days earlier, the anonymous account had boasted that its purported unmasking of Zubair’s “Hinduphobic posts” forced the journalist to delete some old tweets. Hindu supremacist websites such as OpIndia and News Bharati duly amplified this.
Since the H!nduphobic posts expose on 13-14Jun midnight, & confessed by related FB page deletion, Md Zubair's extra-noisy twitter activity slashed from an average of 44 tweets per day to -2 tweets per day.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) June 20, 2022
He deleted 28 tweets today (20-Jun). pic.twitter.com/X9Mel1CAR6
On Tuesday, the online rightwing ecosystem went at Zubair with renewed vengeance after two extremist Muslim men murdered a Hindu tailor in Rajasthan for supporting Nupur Sharma. Arun Pudur, Abhijit Iyer Mitra, Shefali Vaidya, BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Priti Gandhi, social media influencers Rishi Bagree and Surendra Punia, Swarajya senior editor Tushar Gupta, Modi government advisor Kanchan Gupta, and Times Now editor Rahul Shivshankar sought to blame the gruesome murder on the Alt News journalist, who is in police custody.
Muhammad Zubair is responsible for beheading of Kanhaiya Lal ji in #Udaipur.
— Arun Pudur (@arunpudur) June 28, 2022
His edited video of #NupurSharma has claimed another victim. Bangladesh a few Hindus were slaughtered already.
No media will tell you this, but we all know the truth.
Claiming Zubair can’t be held responsible for the murders of Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kohle because he personally didn’t do the physics killing; is like claiming Hitler wasn’t responsible for the Holocaust because he personally didn’t pull the levers of the gas chambers.
— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) June 28, 2022
It is the Mohammed Zubairs and Rana Ayyubs of the world that give the call for violence. It is the semi-illiterate Muslim who acts on the call, and then the Zubairs and Rana Ayyubs wax poetic on their valour! Tried and tested formula of Izlamic violence! This is on @zoo_bear
— Shefali Vaidya. (@ShefVaidya) June 28, 2022
जुबैर ने हिंदुओं के खिलाफ आतंक और उन्माद फैलाने का काम किया
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) June 28, 2022
ऐसे लोग युवाओं को जिहादी बनाने के लिए झूठा माहौल बनाते है
देश के बाहर हिंदुओं के जीवन को खतरे में डालने की साजिशें रची
राहुल गांधी हो या अखिलेश - जुबैर का साथ देने का मतलब है कट्टर इस्लामिक आतंकी सोच का साथ देना
Responsibility of this brutal killing is wholly & solely on #Zubair. His extremely dangerous, repeated attempts to fan communal discord is responsible for this death.
— Priti Gandhi - प्रीति गांधी (@MrsGandhi) June 28, 2022
Also the absolute failure of law & order in Rajasthan. @ashokgehlot51 should step down!! #Udaipur https://t.co/MygL0zBtlD
Zubair’s attempts to fan communal discord is responsible for this death and destruction. https://t.co/lXdZtladXe
— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) June 28, 2022
Who is responsible for brutal murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal ?
— Major Surendra Poonia (@MajorPoonia) June 28, 2022
Zubair ! Yes Zubair and the sickulars,Political leaders and librus who supports/funds him,his Jihad,anti-India & anti-Hindu activities .#JusticeForKanhaiyaLal#HindusUnderAttackInIndia pic.twitter.com/aFhXU6oa6O
Zubair ran an incomplete debate that featured Nupur Sharma's remarks, not the provocation, not the insult from the other side, and today, because of that incitement, a tailor in Udaipur was beheaded by two proud Muslim men who further claimed they'd do the same to PM Modi.
— Tushar Gupta (@Tushar15_) June 28, 2022
Mohammed Zubair knew what he was doing; he knew the consequences of his dog-whistling. So did those in media and others who pretended otherwise. Words did not fail them in raucously supporting Zubair. Yet words fail them in even mentioning the name of Kanhaiya Lal. https://t.co/OQ1u7eyUD9
— Kanchan Gupta (@KanchanGupta) June 28, 2022
Beheading in Udaipur to avenge "blasphemy". Killers even vowed on cam to kill Modi & Nupur. Kanhaiya Lal wouldn't have been killed had Zubairs & 'secular' politicians not dogwhistled emboldening 'islamists' in the wake of Nupur's comments.
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) June 28, 2022
All MUST ensure peace & calm.
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