Uncontrollable fallout
Indian Muslims have roundly condemned the murder of a Hindu tailor who supported a former BJP spokeswoman who had committed blasphemy. The gruesome attack by two Muslim men was videotaped and shared by extremists and ‘fans’ of violence. However, while the incident has given more fuel to Hindutva extremists to cast a negative light on all Muslims, several notable Muslims, including frequent Hindutva targets, have condemned the attack and called for punishing the accused men, while also urging calm among those still protesting over the blasphemous comments that started it all.
But that has not stopped BJP from continuing its policy of shooting the messenger, with the pro-BJP ‘Godi’ media now blaming a leading journalist for instigating the attack. Mohammed Zubair, the cofounder of respected Indian fact-checking website Alt News and one of the BJP’s harshest critics, was arrested on blasphemy charges over a years-old tweet about how a hotel changed its image to reflect that of a Hindu god. He was not provided a warning or prior notice as is required for social media-related offences under Indian law.
Zubair, who is among those credited with drawing attention to the now-suspended BJP leader’s offensive remarks along with several incidents of attacks on minorities, is now also facing hilariously trumped-up charges regarding his income which, Alt News cofounder Pratik Sinha noted, have been written up by assuming that their website’s income, which goes into its own bank account, is Zubair’s personal income. Some reports suggest this shoddy accounting by the authorities is intentional as they want to accuse Zubair of illegally receiving foreign funding — equating donations to the website from readers abroad to personal income.
The Editors Guild of India has condemned the “extremely disturbing” arrest, describing Zubair’s work as “very objective and factual”. Unfortunately, the Indian government of today is literally built on disinformation, and anyone that pokes holes in their efforts to brainwash the Indian public is, therefore, a dangerous threat.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2022.
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