Yugveer Arjav, a young businessman from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, received death threats as his trimmed video went viral on social media. The youth has held propagandist and Alt-News co-founder Mohammed Zubair responsible for the beheading threats issued by Islamists. He said that the threat calls started after Mohammed Zubair shared the controversial video from his Twitter handle. Yugveer Arjav has sought protection from the Uttar Pradesh state government.
As he spoke to OpIndia, Yugveer Arjav said that one of his videos is wrongly edited and publicised. Since then, he is receiving threatening calls. He said that the Islamists are trying to make him as insecure as former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Yugveer Arjav has shared with OpIndia a copy of the online complaint he made to the police. Mohammad Zubair’s name is also mentioned in it.
On 19th April 2023, Yugveer Arjav told OpIndia that about 2 months ago, he made a funny video. It was uploaded on Facebook. Most of the things in the video were quoted from Islamic books. Still, some people had a problem with it. According to Yugveer Arjav, he deleted the video considering the public sentiment. He also expressed regret over hurting people’s feelings.
However, according to Yugveer, his video was wrongly edited and publicised in a manner to suit the ‘hostile situation’ in Uttar Pradesh. Explaining more about the ‘hostile situation’ he told that he was referring to the tension that prevailed in the state after mafia Atiq Ahmed’s murder. He said that someone has edited his old video and put some objectionable photos in it and it is being made viral with the intention of spreading tension. According to Yugveer, Mohammad Zubair played the biggest role in making it viral.
Yugveer Arjav says that ever since Mohammad Zubair retweeted his edited video, he has been receiving beheading threats from the country and abroad. He said that he has been receiving threatening calls from numbers as far as Saudi Arabia, sometimes a threat that says ‘Sar Tan Se Juda‘, and sometimes a message like ‘only a few days left’. According to Yugveer, some people posing as policemen called and threatened him. Some called up as lawyers and said an FIR has been lodged against him. Yugveer Arjav said that due to this, he is mentally disturbed and frightened. He also said that he could not sleep for the last 72 hours.
