Explained: Why Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair has been arrested

The Delhi police, on Monday, arrested Alt-News co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his Twitter posts. Mohammed Zubair was arrested after a Twitter user tagged Delhi police in one of his 2018 tweets concerning Hindu God Hanuman. Let us take a look at the details.

What was the Tweet?

In a tweet dated March 24, 2018, Zubair had shared a picture of a hotel's nameboard (from a movie) that was apparently changed to 'Hanuman Hotel' from 'Honeymoon Hotel'. He captioned that image as “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel, After 2014: Hanuman Hotel.” This Tweet is said to have provoked the masses, ultimately leading to Zubair’s arrest. A Twitter user had tagged the Delhi police saying “Linking our God Hanuman Ji with honeymoon is a direct insult of Hindus because he is brahmachari. Kindly take action against this guy".

Also read: Journalist Mohammad Zubair was a 'jihadi' who incited violence, say BJP leaders

History of controversial Tweets

Mohammed Zubair has a history of tweeting controversial remarks. He had occasionally taken a jibe at several people accusing them of hate-mongering. Earlier, he had reportedly called out Mahant Bajrang Muni ‘Udasin’, Yati Narsinghanand and Swami Anand Swarup as ‘hatemongers’ after which an FIR was filed against him in Uttar Pradesh.

In 2020, an FIR was also filed against him by the NCPCR under the POCSO Act after he tweeted a photo of a minor girl, with her face blurred, after having a spat, apparently with her father on social media.

Continuous tussle with the government

Mohammed Zubair's tussle with the government is something not new. He has been openly critical of the government's policies. He had also tweeted the controversial remarks of now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed, which sparked huge outrage across the country. Zubair had also questioned the government after several of his tweets were withheld after complaints from the government.

Charges against Zubair

The Delhi police have booked the journalist under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc.) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Police in a statement said Zubair was "evasive" on their questions and neither provided the "necessary technical equipment" for the purpose of the investigation nor cooperated in the case.

"During investigation, the conduct of Mohammed Zubair was found questionable, which warranted his custodial interrogation to unravel the conspiracy in this matter. Accordingly, he has been arrested," the statement said.

According to the officials, Zubair's tweets were getting re-tweeted and it appeared that there was a brigade of social media entities who indulged in hate mongering, thereby leading to a possible ramification on communal harmony and which was against the maintenance of public tranquillity.

Politics over the arrest

The arrest of Mohammed Zubair has initiated a political controversy. While some of the BJP leaders hailed the action against Zubair, the Opposition is continuously slamming the central government, calling this action a vendetta against the journalist. Besides politicians, several media and journalist associations including the Editors Guild have also condemned the arrest of the Alt News co-founder.

(With PTI inputs)