In his prime days, former Indian bowler Venkatesh Prasad would send batters back to the pavilion with remarkable ease. His duel with Pakistani batter Aamir Sohail is the stuff of legend. But even after his retirement, he seems to have retained his mojo, unabashedly calling out the wrong and cleaning bowled folks who deserve to be called out. Recently, Prasad slammed Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair for hate-mongering under the pretext of carrying out ‘fact-checks’.
“Haha.. Says a serial hate-monger, who has put so many lives in danger for his agenda. You disguising as a fact-checker is like Terrorists talking about peace,” Prasad tweeted while sharing a screenshot of a tweet deleted by Zubair.
Zubair, who is notorious for dog-whistling Islamists against former BJP leader Nupur Sharma by sharing an incomplete video of her remarks on a Times Now debate, recently posted a screenshot of a tweet posted by Prasad where he made scathing remarks directed against the BCCI and ACC.
In response to Zubair’s tweet, Prasad, who is known for not mincing his words, slammed the Alt News co-founder for masquerading as a fact-checker while being a ‘serial hate-monger’. “Now post that you need money to survive and ask for donations for your website, No shame in living off by fooling people,” Prasad sarcastically added.
‘I am a Ram Bhakt, I won’t spare anyone, Jai Shri Ram’: Venkatesh Prasad issues clarification on his deleted tweet
Prasad further clarified the reason why he had deleted one of the tweets where he had criticised the BCCI. Prasad said his tweet led to confusion and was twisted out of context which is why he had to pull down the tweet. “Since I was also speaking about the inefficiency of the BCCI around tickets in other tweets, it led to confusion and looked out of context. Hence deleted,varna naam lekar khulkar bolne mein Rambhakt kisiko chhodte nahin , Jai Shree Ram.”
That was a general tweet where i spoke about how one person who is corrupt can undo a lot of good work of his organisation and it can have large scale implication on a macro level as well in any field. Since i was also speaking about the inefficiency of the BCCI around tickets… https://t.co/cbZTUeg1qO
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) September 9, 2023
I’m aware of his derogatory stuff on Hindu Gods. Real shame such deceivers disguise as journalists’: Venkatesh Prasad on Mohammed Zubair
Nevertheless, when one of the X (formerly known as Twitter) users responded to his tweet that there is a never-ending thread on instances when Zubair was caught spreading fake news, Prasad replied, “My goodness.. has guts to still call himself Fact-checker. Won’t have the balls to question his paymasters.”
“Am aware of him putting lives at risk and posting derogatory stuff about Hindu Gods. A real shame that such deceivers still can disguise as journalists and beg for donations,” Prasad added.
The tweet was posted by a user who goes by @BefittingFacts, who had shared the link to a thread composed by Political activist Ankur Singh, who had catalogued instances when Alt News co-founder was either found spreading fake news or caught peddling brazen lies.
You can read the thread here, and 20 instances when Zubair was caught lying and spreading fake news here. This is by no means an exhaustive list of fake news peddled by Zubair. It is just the tip of the iceberg and there are countless instances where he misled his followers with fake news.
Mohammed Zubair dog whistles against Nupur Sharma
Earlier last year, former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma found herself at the centre of a raging storm after Islamists, egged on by the likes of AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, issued multiple threats against her and her family for expressing her views on Prophet Muhammad and Islam.
While Islamists went on a rampage on the streets in many cities across the country, it was essentially Mohammed Zubair who was responsible for kindling a fire that had gone on to assume uncontrollable proportions. It was Zubair’s dog whistle that made a mountain out of a molehill and painted a target behind the back of Nupur Sharma and anyone and everyone who came out in her support. It is worth noting that even though Zubair accused Nupur Sharma of indulging in hate speech, he has so far studiously refrained from carrying out a fact check of comments made by Nupur Sharma.
Hindus, including Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kolhe, were killed after Zubair dog-whistled Islamists against Nupur Sharma
The ominous hounding of Nupur Sharma prompted many to extend their support to her. Kanhaiya Lal from Udaipur, Umesh Kolhe in Amravati, and many others extended their solidarity with the beleaguered leader, voicing their support for her amid the death threats from Islamists.
And so, Lal was a marked man the moment he came out in support of Nupur Sharma. Islamists, provoked by Mohammed Zubair, dished out death threats to him for what they considered an unpardonable sin committed against the Prophet. And days later, the Hindu man was killed for something as trivial as just sharing a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma.
A similar fate befell Umesh Kolhe, a chemist living in Maharashtra’s Amravati, who was murdered by four Muslim assailants while he was returning from his pharmacy on the night of June 22. Kolhe, too, was murdered for his social media post supporting Nupur Sharma.
This makes Mohammed Zubair guilty of ‘stochastic terrorism’, a concept defined as the public demonisation of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted. It was Mohammed Zubair who spearheaded a campaign against Nupur Sharma, accusing her of insulting the Prophet Muhammad and letting loose an army of Islamists against her that ultimately snuffed out the lives of Lal, Kolhe, and many others.
