Journalist’ Rana Ayyub, an accused of committing financial fraud to the tune of crores of rupees, recently peddled disinformation on Amanpour and Company by PBS over the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair by Delhi Police.
Speaking in support of Zubair, who instigated Islamists against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, triggering widespread unrest and bouts of violence that led to the bloodcurdling beheadings of Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kolhe, the donation fraud accused claimed that the Delhi Police arrested the Alt News co-founder for “fact-checking fake news in India.”
“We are living in the times when journalists are enemies of the state in India where the world’s largest democracy is descending into a police state,” said Ayyub while condemning the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, whom she claimed was arrested for busting fake news.
Delhi Police arrests Mohammed Zubair for hurting religious sentiments
However, contrary to what Ayyub would want the world to believe, Delhi Police arrested Mohammed Zubair for hurting religious sentiments after a social media user filed a complaint against the Alt News co-founder after his old tweets insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses had gone viral on the internet.
Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of leftist propagandist portal Alt News, has been arrested by the Delhi Police under Section 153, 295 of the Indian Penal Code.
Section 295 deals with deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs while Section 153 concerns wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot.
Mohammed Zubair’s old Hinduphobic posts surface online
On 13 June 2022, days after India witnessed violent protests that saw Islamists running riot, indulging in violence over the alleged insult of Prophet Muhammad, Twitter user The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeye) shared a collage of past tweets and posts by Mohammed Zubair mocking Hindu Gods and beliefs.
In one of the tweets shared by The Hawk Eye, Zubair is seen mocking Shivling and comparing it with the top view of the Vatican City. He said the post comparing Shivling with the Vatican City inspired him to come up with a parody Facebook page ‘Unofficial: Subramanian Swamy’ in 2014.
Apparently, one of the posts on the Facebook page ‘Unofficial Mohammed Zubair‘ mocks Arun Govil to take a swipe at Lord Ram, suggesting that ISRO must consult the actor because he would know more about the rocketry.
Another post by ‘Unofficial Mohammed Zubair’ shows an aeroplane under the water with the caption: “Breaking: Pushpak Vimana under water used by Raavan 5000 years found in the Indian Ocean.”
Besides ridiculing Hindu Gods, Zubair has also poked fun at Hindu beliefs and took a dig at Sanskrit, regarded as one of the most important languages of Hinduism and the means of communication by the Hindu Gods.
As his Hinduphobic posts started getting traction, with netizens sharing screenshots to highlight how Zubair has been moving and hurting the sentiments of Hindus, the AltNews co-founder quietly pulled downhis Facebook page. A few days later, he deleted the controversial tweets as well.
Days later, the Patiala House Court in Delhi granted bail to Alt News Co-Founder and serial fake news peddler Mohammed Zubair and asked to furnish a surety of Rs 50,000.
However, he continues to remain in jail over other cases filed against him. One of the case is related to a complaint filed by a journalist working with Sudarshan News who had, in September 2021, lodged a complaint against the Alt News co-founder at Lakhimpur Kheri for defaming the news channel over its report on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
