Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, has been once again accused of sharing edited footage of a news debate on Twitter. Zubair posted an edited tape of a news debate on the channel India News and questioned why the anchor invited fellow panellists to insult religions.
Zubair was called out by Anchor Pradeep Bhandari of India News who was the host of the debate. Bhandari pointed out by saying that the clip shared by Zubair is heavily edited and he is an agenda-driven liar.
Sharing an original short clip of the show, Pradeep Bhandari wrote, “Mohammed Zubair @zoo_bear You are an agenda driven liar. I challenge you & your entire team of ‘fact checkers’ to prove that this clip from my show isn’t heavily edited. Instead of putting out spliced & diced clips, grow a spine & speak out against Al-Qaeda’s terror threat!”
Mohammed Zubair @zoo_bear
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) June 8, 2022
You are an agenda driven liar.
I challenge you & your entire team of ‘fact checkers’ to prove that this clip from my show isn’t heavily edited.
Instead of putting out spliced & diced clips, grow a spine & speak out against Al-Qaeda’s terror threat! https://t.co/LBywpFrTZW pic.twitter.com/hGpH2f2GjT
The tweet was a quoted reply to Mohammed Zubair’s tweet. “See the number of panelists, Most of them are self proclaimed Godmen. You can also see a BJP MLA from UP listening to what Ilyas Sharafuddin says. Why are Self Proclaimed ‘Nationalist’ anchors having such debates where there panelists say bad about other religion?” Mohammed Zubair tweeted along with the video.
See the number of panelists, Most of them are self proclaimed Godmen. You can also see a BJP MLA from UP listening to what Ilyas Sharafuddin says. Why are Self Proclaimed ‘Nationalist’ anchors having such debates where there panelists say bad about other religion? 🤮🤮 pic.twitter.com/PYF8Xlhk5V
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) June 7, 2022
The actual video is a part of a 5-hour long debate on India News. It was streamed live on May 24. The Show was Janta Ka Mukadma in which the show host, Pradeep Bhandari, was discussing the applicability and nuances of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. It is from this video Zubair took out some portions and clubbed them to make another clip which he posted on Twitter.
How Zubair edited the clip
If the clips shared by Bhandari, Zubair and the full show is watched, it can be seen that Ilyas Sharafuddin, one of the panellists in the show, had made several comments insulting Hinduism and Hindu gods at different times during the unusually long TV debate. However, Md Zubair picked audio of those comments, added to the video of the continuous clip, compiling them into one single clip. Therefore, the clip shared by Zubair gives an impression that Ilyas Sharafuddin was insulting Hinduism continuously on the show without being interrupted or countered by the host of the other panellists. But the fact is, the comments were made at different points of time. If the clip shared by Zubair is watched carefully, it can be seen that the the audio and video does match in some parts, because the audio was picked from different times to create the video.
It is notable that recently, Zubair shared another short clip of a news debate of former BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma making remarks about the Islamic prophet and dog-whistled his followers leading to rape and death threats to the BJP leader.
Following the remarks, many FIRs were filed against Sharma, and open vows for her murder were made. Following her comments, some Islamist organisations even set a price on her head. Al Qaeda, the notorious Islamic terrorist organisation, has also written a letter threatening suicide strikes in Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat in order to “fight for the honour of the Prophet.” This threat was issued by Al Qaeda in reaction to statements made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Following the uproar, the BJP distanced itself from her remarks and suspended her membership. The BJP informed Sharma in its suspension letter that she had voiced opinions opposite to the party’s on a number of issues, which violated the party’s constitution.
